I'll Miss You If You Leave Me
by neon maverick
Summary: Nate gives public school a try. He meets a girl who’s meant to be popular, but behind closed doors, are some secrets maybe better hidden? And will these secrets endanger Nate’s life? NatexOC
1. Opinions

'You're what?!'

'You're crazy!'

Nate flinched as Shane and Jason yelled at his proposal. 'Look…I just thought…'

'You weren't thinking!'

'Yeah, that's what you were thinking!'

Shane looked at Jason with a "what are talking about?" look on his face. 'What?' he whispered angrily. Jason shrugged, looking innocent.

'Look, guys, I just want a try at being normal. I miss it.' Nate said, fiddling with his hair.

'Nathan, it doesn't matter!' Nate looked up as Shane used his full name. 'You're _never _gonna be normal!'

'I just wanted to _try_.' Nate said, sighing angrily. 'If you really don't want me to do it, then I won't. It's no big deal.' He said sadly, sprinting away.

Shane glanced at Jason. 'Well done.' Jason said, raising his eyebrows. 'Hey, Nate, wait up!' he said, running after him.

'Shit.' Shane whispered, rubbing his forehead.

* * *

Jason opened the door to Nick's room, seeing him curled up on the bed, pouting. 'Hey Nate.'

Nate looked at him and then resumed to his stare at the wall. 'What do you want?'

'Look, I just don't think it would work. It would just all end in tears.' Jason said, perching on the end of Nate's bed.

'But that's the _whole point_.' Nate said, sitting up. 'I _want _to take chances, I _want _to be _Nate_, not just "that guy from Connect 3", I _want _to be able to do homework and study sessions and moan about teachers behind their backs, I wanna just be _normal_, even if it doesn't last.' Nate put his head in his hands. 'It doesn't matter anymore anyway. I'm not that keen on it now.'

Jason raised his eyebrows just like he had at Shane. 'Yes you are, Nate. I can see how much you want this.'

Nate looked up. 'You can?'

'Yeah. I thought you were just thinking about it, but I'm starting to think you should.'

'Really?'

'Yeah. I mean, we shouldn't be holding you back. Shane just doesn't want to be without you for so long. He doesn't admit it, but I know he likes to spend time with us.' Nate smiled. 'And you going to public school will jeopardise his chances of that being as regular as it is now.'

'Jeopardise?' Jason nodded proudly. 'Big word.' Nate grinned, laughing slightly.

* * *

Shane had rung Mitchie to ask for her advice, and she'd said to just go and speak to him. He stopped outside Nick's room and heard voices. He pressed his ear against the door.

'…I _want _to be _Nate_, not just "that guy from Connect 3"…' Shane frowned. '…I wanna just be _normal_, even if it doesn't last…' Shane bit his lip, sighing. '…It doesn't matter anymore anyway. I'm not that keen on it now.' He looked up, suddenly feeling so bad about earlier it was untrue. He wanted to burst in and tell Nate that he didn't mind him going away to public school, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

'…Shane just doesn't want to be without you for so long. He doesn't admit it, but I know he likes to spend time with us…' Shane nodded to himself, smiling slightly. '…And you going to public school will jeopardise his chances of that being as regular as it is now…' Shane slid down the door, still pressed against it.

'Jeopardise? Big word.' Shane grinned, but was hiding his emotions. He didn't want Nate to leave; he was his best friend. He was like his brother.

* * *

As it says in the summary, it is NatexOC, not NatexShane. **Never **gonna happen in my stories. Please Review!


	2. Sometimes

'Nate, can I…talk to you?' Shane said as Nate walked past him.

Nate stopped and bit his lip. 'I have to go –'

'Please? It'll be quick.' Shane said, grabbing his arm.

Nate's lip twitched and he glanced at Shane's hand on his forearm. '…Fine.'

Shane pulled him over to a more secretive place and took his hand off his arm. 'So, what is it?' Nate said, avoiding Shane's eyes.

'Look…I just…Jason was right.' Nate frowned, confused. 'I came to talk to you…and I heard Jason say…that I'd miss you.'

Nate's head lifted slightly in understanding. 'Oh.'

'And…I'm just saying…he was right. I didn't…' Shane breathed deeply. '…I didn't want you to go. Because I'd miss you and…' Nate raised his eyebrows. '…and stuff.' Nate's face broke into a grin, and Shane smiled slightly as well. 'Can you stop hating me now?'

'I never hated you.' Nate said, still somewhat smiling. 'Can I still go?'

'…' Shane looked away, his smile, however, fading. 'I…yeah. I shouldn't hold you back.'

Nate looked carefully at his face. 'You're not.' He said, staring at him. 'Look, here's the deal. I've got a school in mind. The next time I get off for a long enough time to see you is in 2 months. It's not too long.'

'Not too long?! It's…' Nate gave him a look. '…good enough.' Nate smiled, and Shane smiled too. 'When are you leaving?'

'Actually…I was on my way to my room to pack.' Nate said. Shane's mouth parted slightly. He didn't think it was gonna be that quick. 'Help me?'

A smile spread across Shane's face. 'Yeah. Yeah, sure.'

* * *

'I've been accepted!' Nate said excitedly.

Jason, Shane and Mitchie stared at him. Mitchie was the first to speak. 'That's great.' She said, coming forward to hug him.

He hugged her back, staring at his best friends. 'Thanks.' He pulled back, Mitchie smiling at him.

She turned towards Jason and Shane. 'Isn't that great, guys?'

Jason nodded, plastering a fake smile on his face. 'Yeah…well done, Nate.' He said, hugging him.

Mitchie sent a look at Shane and he stared down at his feet. Nate noticed this and bit his lip, holding onto Jason tighter for comfort.

Then he pulled back, and he walked up to Shane. 'Well done.' Shane said in a monotone, not looking at him.

'Hey, you like Oreos, right Jase?' Mitchie said. 'Let's go buy some.'

'But I already have some…' Jason said, not getting the point.

'It's always good to have _spare_.' She said with emphasis, grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

'But I…'

'Come on!'

Nate snorted with laughter. 'Jase never did get subtlety.'

Shane made a noise which resembled a grunt. 'Hm.'

The younger of the two sighed. 'Shane…talk to me.' Nate rolled his eyes when he didn't get an answer. 'Shane!'

'What, Nate? What exactly do you _expect _me…to say? That…I'm happy for you? That…I won't miss you? That maybe, just maybe…I might drive you in on your first day? Because I'm not sure which one I'm refusing to tell you the most.' Shane jammed his fists in his pockets and started to walk away.

'Shane…' Nate's voice made Shane's heart break and he stopped in his tracks. '…if you really hate me going, why don't you just say?'

'Because! Because I'll be holding you back…again!' Shane turned round sharply, causing Nate to step back. 'I've always held you back! Jason knows it, Mitchie knows it, you know it…the only one who didn't was _me_!'

Nate swallowed. 'Shane…I wouldn't have had such a great life without you.'

'You mean without my music.' Shane said bitterly.

Nate's eyes blazed with unspoken anger. 'No! Not your music! You, Shane, you! You're my best friend, and you can't accept that best friends protect each other! They help each other! They're there for every major thing in each other's lives!'

Shane looked down. 'I don't think…you've ever spoken to me like that before, Nate.'

'Yeah…well. Things change.' Nate said sourly. 'Look, Shane. I don't care if you don't want me to go, because I am and you can't stop me. I'll miss you; I know I will, but…'

'…sometime we will actually be apart.' Shane finished quietly.

'Exactly.' Nate said, sitting down. Shane walked nearer and sat beside him.

'I'm sorry I wasn't happy for you.' Shane said, suddenly ashamed.

'It's okay.'

'No, it's not. I don't want to accept everything you've just told me, but sometime I think I might have to.'

Nate looked towards him. 'You know, you'll always be my best mate, Shane. I just…I just have to have a shot at normal life. It seems to work well enough for Mitchie.'

Shane smiled slightly at the mention of his girlfriend. 'Yeah…I guess she turned out pretty well, didn't she?' he said, grinning.

'Yeah, definitely.' Nate said, smiling as well. 'Please let me go, Shane.'

'Okay, fine. But…still call me.'

'Oh yeah, I was gonna totally ignore you.' It took one look at the expression of horror that was positioned on Shane's face for Nate to laugh slightly. 'I'm kidding.'

'Oh good.' Shane sighed with relief and mocked wiping sweat of his face. 'Hey, I didn't mean it when I said that stuff about not being happy for you and missing you and driving you in. The offer's open.'

'It's cool.' Nate said. 'And I'd like that.'

'Can I hide though? I don't want my car to be wrecked by screaming fans.'

Nate laughed. 'Yeah, that's fine.' He stared at Shane, who stared back. 'Shane, I meant what I said…about best friends.'

'I know you did.' Shane leant forward and hugged. 'I know.'

* * *

Please Review!


	3. Surprises

'Bye, Jase.' Nate walked up to Jason and hugged him. 'I'll see in two months.'

'How will I survive?' Jason said dramatically, hugging him back.

'Very funny. Bye Mitchie.' Nate said, leaning back and hugging Mitchie.

'Hope all goes well.' She said, hugging him as well.

'Thanks. Come on Shane, we have 2 hours before school starts.' Nate said, as he leant back and watched Shane struggle throwing some stuff into the trunk. He was going to be living in a hotel until he was 16 and was able to get a flat.

'Nate, it only takes 80 minutes to get there. Why leave so early?' Shane said, throwing the last case in.

'Because I'll need to unpack at the hotel and then go. And also, we can stop for cookies on the way.' Nate said, grinning.

'Oreo cookies?' Jason asked hopefully.

'What does it matter? You're not coming anyway.' Shane said, climbing into the driver's seat.

'Because if someone feels nice, they'll buy some for the unfortunate Oreo-less soul you call your band mate and bring them back to them.'

Mitchie looked at him. 'We bought loads yesterday.'

'It's always good to have spare.' He mimicked.

Mitchie rolled her eyes at his mimicry. She opened the door for Nate. 'Call us when you get there.'

'Will do.' Shane answered, turning the key in the slot. Nate got in and rolled down the window. As Shane drove off, he waved and Jason and Mitchie waved back.

* * *

Shane pulled into the school parking lot. Nate didn't move. Shane stared at him. 'Nate, you need to go. You have 10 minutes.'

'Do you think I made the right choice?' Nate said, still staring out the windshield.

'Yes.' Shane forced it out. 'Nate, you really want this. It's obvious. Come on, I'll see in two months.' He said, reaching through the gap in between the two seats, grabbing the backpack and placing it on Nate's lap.

'Yeah…yeah, I guess.' Nate said, unbuckling his seatbelt and taking the handle of the bag in his hand. 'Bye Shane.' He said quietly.

'Bye Nate.' Shane answered just as quietly and the two hugged hard.

Eventually they pulled apart. 'Okay, get ready for the screaming fans.' Nate said, still quiet.

'Yup.' Shane said, his hands ready on the steering wheel.

Nate opened the door and got out, swinging his bag over his shoulder. 'See you.' He said, smiling slightly.

'Yeah.' Shane said, smiling in a similar way.

Nate slammed the door and watched the car pull off quickly.

'Oh my God, it's Nate from Connect 3!'

'I've seen him play!'

'I told you he was coming here!'

'I didn't say it wasn't true!'

Nate flinched as practically all the girls ran towards him, nearly knocking him over. 'Whoa!'

'Oh, are you okay?'

'Get him to the nurse!'

'I'm fine.' Nate said. The nurse? He didn't even get as far as the ground.

Girls started to coo over him and asked for his autograph on the weirdest things. He did some, and tried to look over the crowd to see how many there were. He saw a lot of boys, now standing without girls by their sides, looking fed up. He saw a few girls who were obviously too scared to come over. He saw some people laughing at him, and suddenly wished he was one of them. He saw one girl leaning against a locker, smirking. Usually he would have thought this was her laughing at him, just as the others had been, but the way she was smiling; it just didn't seem that way.

Suddenly a very loud sound ran out. _'Saved by the bell.' _As all the girls started to claw themselves away from him, he tried to catch sight of that girl again, but she'd gone.

* * *

Nate picked his way into English, his first lesson, trying to avoid every girl he saw. Gasps rippled through the class as he opened the door. He ignored it and went up to the teacher. 'Sorry I'm late; I had to speak to my homeroom teacher.' He handed her the late pass, and she nodded kindly.

'Okay, there's only one spare seat, over there by Ashlee.' Every single other girl in the class started to complain to each other. All the guys looked proud; they obviously didn't want their girlfriends to be taken by him. Nate looked to where the teacher was pointing, where the girl's head looked up from her paper.

She sighed slightly and took her bag off of the chair, dropping it on the floor beside her. Nate bit his lip and started to walk over, sitting on the seat. 'Ashlee will be your buddy for the first week, okay?' the teacher said, looking briefly up.

'Yeah.' Nate said, his knee tapping. He looked towards Ashlee, and she smiled slightly. He recognised that smile. He realised that she was the girl he'd seen at the beginning of school.

'Nate, right?' she said, making it perfectly obvious she knew what his name was. She turned towards him properly, and he took in her appearance. Her blonde hair had a dark underside to it, and she had warm green eyes. There was a sparkle there that Nate had only really seen in Jason's when someone mentioned birdhouses or Oreos.

'Yeah.' Nate repeated.

'Cool.' Ashlee replied, nodding. She turned back to her paper, her hair falling over her face.

Nate reached into his bag, but after a few minutes of rummaging, he ran a hand through his curls. 'Dang.'

Ashlee turned towards him. 'Anything wrong?'

'I was bombarded by girls at the beginning of school…' he saw the start of an eye roll. '…I guess I must have dropped my pens and stuff…'

'Or the girls just stole it.' Ashlee said, laughing slightly.

'Entirely possible.' Nate said, laughing in a similar way.

'Here, take this one.' She handed him her one. 'I have another.' She explained, taking another out of her bag.

'Thanks.' Nate said, taking it, and writing his name on the top of the paper. As he stared at it, the words all merged together and it confused him. 'Hey. What are we doing?'

Ashlee grinned. 'We're doing our self-assessment sheets. We have to tick all the boxes that apply to us and then write about our interests and hobbies. We do it at the beginning of every year.' She explained.

'Oh right. Thanks…again.'

'Any time. I'm your buddy, remember?' Ashlee laughed, her hair falling in front of her face.

'Yeah, I remember.' Nate said, nodding.

* * *

'Ashlee!' came a piercing scream from the side of the cafeteria.

Nate looked around, searching for the source. Suddenly there was a running crowd of about 4 running at Ashlee. Ashlee grinned and Nate flinched as they all flung themselves at her. The first three girls swung their arms round her neck and Ashlee grabbed them all round the waists.

'We missed you so much!'

'I missed you too!'

'I can't believe we haven't seen you for three months!'

'Me the same!'

She let go of them, and stared at the girl standing across from her. 'Hey Kelly.' Ashlee said with a lisp, grinning cheekily.

'Hi Ashlee.' Kelly said in a similar voice.

Nate smiled slightly as they ran towards each other and hugged tightly.

Ashlee grinned so widely as she grabbed her best friend her face ached.

'Is that who I think it is?' Kelly whispered.

'If you're talking about the curly headed cutie, then yes.' Ashlee said, sneaking a look at Nate, who'd flipped his hood up, so he didn't get recognised as easily.

'Oh my God.'

'Look, I think he just wants to be normal. Don't scream or anything like that…please?'

'Sure.' Kelly said, pulling back.

'So, how was your summer?'

'It was good.' Ashlee said simply. 'Hey.' She caught Nate's attention. 'Come sit here.'

'Er…'

'Come on, we don't bite.' Ashlee said, grabbing his wrist.

'Much.' Kelly finished.

Nate laughed nervously, and let Ashlee drag him to a table. 'Guys, this is Nate.' She sent them all a warning glare, and they all got the message and smiled as if they didn't want to bombard him and clobber him.

'Nate, this is Kelly, you know her already, Jake, Ryan, Harry – or Hazard as we call him – and then there's Cali, Mira, Georgina and then there's my boyfriend, Brad.' Nate watched as she pointed them out all in turn.

Ashlee walked over to Brad and looked up at him adoringly. 'Hey.'

'Hey baby.'

Ashlee leaned against him, and he put a hand round her. 'Hey, Nate, just sit right there next to me and Kelly.' She smiled warmly, and felt Brad tense against her.

He leant forward and kissed her on the neck. Ashlee smiled, but as his breath tickled her neck she wriggled uncomfortably, yet unnoticed. 'Don't get any ideas.' He murmured into her neck, making her skin crawl.

'I'm not.' She hissed back, leading him to the chair that Nate had just sat in.

Brad sat down and let Ashlee sit on his lap. She leant over and took a grape from Cali's tray and popped it in her mouth. Brad made a face, and she grabbed another and put in his mouth.

Kelly noticed Nate looked uncomfortable. 'So, Nate…why did you want to move here? It pretty much sucks.' She laughed, and Nate smiled.

'I like it.' He said quietly.

'I give it 2 weeks.' Cali said, throwing a grape to Ashlee.

'I don't think so.' Jake said. 'I give him 1 week.'

Everyone laughed, and Nate breathed out one. In truth, he wasn't sure he wanted to be here. He missed Shane and Jason, and Ashlee was too busy with her boyfriend. Kelly was okay, but she obviously was used to be the centre of attention.

'Hey, Nate…what's it like?' Ashlee said, turning to face him.

'What's what like?' Nate said, suddenly more confident talking to Ashlee.

'Being famous. Like…being bombarded by girls…and being the centre of attention because you're a celebrity. Seriously, what does it feel like?'

Nate opened his mouth, but was really lost for words. He'd never really thought about it. 'I guess…it's fun. But…sometimes you really be on your own, and you can't really have that. It's like knowing that someone's watching you all the time, always on your back. It's not as cool as it seems really.'

'Wow. I never thought of it like that.' Georgina said.

'Yeah, its really weird.' Ashlee agreed.

'What's weird is your face, Reynolds.' Ashlee rolled her eyes as she got up from Brad's lap and faced Zoe Freeman.

'What do you want, Freeman?' she said in a dark voice.

Jake, Ryan and Harry stood up, followed by their girlfriends. Brad stayed put, but he did smile secretly as Nate's face turned pale.

'I want you to push off out of my sight.' Zoe said, stepping closer.

Ashlee laid her hands softly on her shoulders. 'If you don't wanna see me, just turn around and walk away. It would do us guys a whole lot of good.'

Zoe pushed Ashlee's hands off her shoulders. 'Really? Cos you wanna know what I think would do me a lot of good?'

'Taking your head out of your ass?' Ashlee said in a sweet voice, and everyone laughed.

'Clever. But I think I should make a little announcement.'

'What?'

'Hey, look, it's Nate from Connect 3!'

Ashlee turned towards Nate, as girls looked towards him. 'Run, Nate! Run!'

**Run, little curly headed cutie, run! Please Review!**


	4. Threats

Ashlee sat in her next class after lunch. She was sitting next to Kelly, but Nate was in the register, and still not here. She raised her hand and was pointed to by the teacher. 'Can I go to the restroom please?'

'Be quick.'

'Thank you.'

Ashlee slid off her chair and sent Kelly a warning look. 'Cover for me.' Kelly nodded.

She walked out of the classroom and walked straight past the ladies' room to outside the men's. She knocked quietly. 'Nate?'

She waited a few seconds. 'Nate? I'm pretty sure you're in there. If not, I'm making I'm making a total fool out of myself.'

There was a small laugh from the other side. 'Nate, are you okay?' Ashlee smiled softly. 'The girls didn't hurt you, did they?'

'No.' came the muffled voice.

'What was that an answer to?'

'…' There was a small silence. 'Both, I guess.'

'I thought so. Do you miss them?'

'Yeah.'

'Nate, just come out.'

'Why?'

'Because I told the teacher that I was going to the restroom when I really came to look for you. And if I'm gone too long, Kelly will run out of excuses as to why I'm not back yet.'

She heard a cubicle swing open and soon after the front door slowly creaked open. 'Hey. You alright?' Nate looked down. 'Sorry, dumb question. Look, just…are you doing anything tonight?'

'…No.'

'Okay then. If you come round mine at seven, bring some homework, and…we'll do some and talk. Please?'

'…'

'My mom'll be there. For once.' She added under her breath. Nate looked up, confused. Ashlee shrugged. 'She's always away on business. I stay by myself or at Brad's. Please come.' She gave him puppy dog eyes and he caved almost immediately. 'Yay!' she said, excited. She took hold of his wrist and wrote down her address on his arm.

* * *

'Mom, Nate's here.' Ashlee stated, not really informing her. She was wearing her blonde hair up in a scruffy bun and pyjamas and bed socks. For some reason, she felt much more comfortable wearing those clothes round Nate than she did Brad.

'Okay, sweetie, what do you want for dinner?'

'Oh, I'll make some, thanks.'

'…Oh, ok.' Ashlee's mom looked slightly discomforted.

'Mom, I do it all the time when you go travelling around the world, picking up fancy men and dropping them in the next country.' Ashlee said, walking to the door and opening it. 'Hey Nate.'

Nate smiled. 'Hey.'

Ashlee stepped to the side. 'Come in.'

'Thanks.' Nate said, stepping in timidly.

'Hello Nate. How are you? Would you like a drink? Something to eat, maybe?' Ashlee's mom said, bounding on him almost immediately.

Ashlee groaned, putting her head in her hands. 'Mom…'

'No…thank you.' Nick said politely, obviously scared.

'Okay, well just ask if you need anything!' her mom said, walking into another room.

'Will do.' Nick said, still in shock. He wouldn't though, he was too scared.

Ashlee looked ashamed as she looked up from her hiding position. 'I'm sorry.'

Nate looked around, fingering their possessions. 'It's fine.'

'Oh God…she's so embarrassing.' She murmured under her breath. 'She doesn't know how to be a parent. I'm telling you; if I died, she so wouldn't come back from her foreign country for my funeral.'

'Don't say that.' Nick said, suddenly uncomfortable.

'Sorry.' Ashlee said, smiling. 'Do you wanna come to my room?'

'Ok…sure.'

Ashlee ran upstairs, waiting for him at the top. 'Come on, slowpoke.'

'Sorry.' Nate said, climbing quicker.

She walked to her room and walked in, letting him come in as well. 'Wow. This is nice.' He said, as his feet sunk into the white fluffy carpet.

'Thanks.' She said, walking to her bed.

Her room was definitely not something to be ashamed of. It had her bed leant against the side, with a side table next to it, holding a light, crystal statue and a picture of her and an older man Nate presumed was her dad. He looked around to her desk, which had a lime green _Notebook _on it, with numerous wires sticking out of it. There was another lamp, but it was different. Opposite was a dressing table and closet. The dressing table had a huge mirror on it, and a seat that slid underneath. There were numerous lotions and hairbrushes and hair products and make-up and electrical products like a hairdryer and straightener scattered over it.

'You're pretty well-off then.' He stated, but was surprised when Ashlee shook her head.

'Nah, not really. My dad bought me this stuff before he went…'

'Oh…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…'

'Oh…no! He's not dead.' That put Nate's mind at rest. 'My mom and dad got a divorce and he moved to New Zealand to get away from her.'

Nate's eye caught a snow globe sitting all on its own on a tiny shelf sticking out of the wall and picked it up. He saw Ashlee tense and put it back immediately. 'Sorry.'

'No, my dad sent it to me. It was the last thing he sent. That was 4 years ago.'

'Oh.' _'Bastard can't be bothered with his own daughter.'_ Nate thought. He picked it up again and shook it, watching the snow fall around the scene. He smiled softly and placed it back on the shelf again.

'So, do you wanna do that homework then?'

'Yeah sure.' Nate said, gingerly placing his bag on the floor as Ashlee brought out the stall from her dressing table and sat on it, pointing to the swivel chair.

'You can sit there.'

Nate did just that and they started to work on the homework.

* * *

_2 hours later…_

Ashlee looked out the window as bright headlights pulled into her drive. _'Oh God, Brad's here. What do I do? Who do I tell to leave?' _

'Are you alright?' Nate asked, looking up briefly from his trigonometry work.

'Uh…yeah. Listen, um, Brad was supposed to come round tonight and I totally forgot so could you maybe…hide?'

'Hide?'

'Yeah, in the closet or something.'

'In the closet?' Nate repeated.

'Yes. In the closet. Because, um, Brad doesn't like anyone being here when he's here so…yeah. Please?'

'Fine. Sure, Ash.' Nate said, getting up and climbing into her closet.

Ashley smiled softly at his nickname for her. She ran down the stairs, realising her mom had gone out, probably with another man that she wouldn't remember the next day. She stopped in front of the door and breathed deeply, smiling in a fake manner as she opened the door for Brad. 'Hey baby.'

'Hey.' He said, coming in and staring at her outfit as she closed the door behind him. 'What the fuck are you wearing?'

'Don't swear, Brad.' She said, glancing down at her outfit. 'Oh, well…I just…'

'You forgot I was coming round.'

'No, I just –'

'You did, you little bitch.'

'Don't swear, Brad.'

'Why not?'

'I swear at school; I don't at my house.'

'No-one's here.'

'I don't care. Please, Brad.'

Brad shrugged and started towards the stairs. 'Let's go to your room.'

Ashlee rushed in front of him. 'No!'

'…Why?'

'Because…it's nice down here. I like it.'

'And _I _like your room.' Brad said, pushing her out the way and walking up the stairs.

Ashlee rolled her eyes and ran up after him, glancing at the closet. 'But…you know…'

'What? Is there someone else here?'

Ashlee giggled nervously. 'No! Of course not; how could you think that?'

'Because you always babble when you're nervous.'

'Do I? I don't think I do. I'm not sure though, because how would I know if I was babbling or not? Am I babbling now? Because I might have started in between –' Brad cut her off by shoving a hand over her mouth.

He pushed her over to the bed. 'What are you doing?'

'Shutting you up.'

'What?' Brad pushed her down and climbed on top of her. 'No, Brad, we can't!'

'Why not?'

'Because I said I wanted to wait.'

'Yeah, what's your point?' he said, running his hand up her leg.

Ashlee made a face that resembled anger and hurt and she hit out at him, slapping him round the face. As he stumbled back, he hit the closet.

Nate wanted to scream with pain as he was crushed inside the closet but knew he couldn't. He had to content himself just tensing and opening his mouth as if he were screaming, holding his arms close to his chest.

'You little bitch.' Ashlee didn't bother to tell him she didn't want him swearing, so she kicked out at him as he surged forward.

Brad stumbled back again, but this time he glared at Ashlee. 'We're so over!' she yelled at him.

He walked forward calmly and whispered in her ear. 'You break up with me and your little friend…Nate…dies. Get it?'

Ashlee gulped. 'Got it.'

'Good.' Brad walked out, and as his headlights drew out of the drive, Ashlee leant back on the bed, sighing, the tears still in her eyes.


	5. Truths

Nate got out the closet after he heard the tires screech away outside. He looked at Ashlee, grabbing her wrists and pulling her up. 'Well done for breaking up with him.'

So obviously he hadn't heard Brad's threat. She pushed him away. 'What the…?'

'Get out.'

'What?'

'Just get out, okay? I don't want you here! Just get out!' she yelled, pushing him out, down the stairs and out the front door, grabbing his backpack and throwing it out after him.

'Ashlee…'

'Just go!' She slammed the door in his face and slid down it. She heard his footsteps draw away and she put her head in hands. She'd rather have hurt Nate than have Brad kill him because of her.

* * *

Nate opened his locker. He watched Ashlee walk in the huge front doors, hand in hand with Brad. He stared at her with questioning eyes. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked to her locker, just doors away from his. She looked at him for a split second and turned away, opening her locker and grabbing her books.

As she walked past him, he gripped her arm. She struggled, but he held on tight. She turned to Brad. 'I'll catch up with you, 'kay?'

'Sure.' He kissed her cheek and walked off.

She turned towards Nate. 'What?'

'What's the matter with you?!' he hissed.

'I don't know what you mean.' She said, fluffing her hair.

Nate grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to a more secluded space. 'You know _exactly _what I mean.'

'Nate…I don't know –'

'He tried to _rape _you.' Nate hissed, tightening his grip on her wrist.

'Look, Nate…I know you think you heard that, but…'

'I know what I heard. He doesn't love you; he's using you!'

Ashlee snatched her arm out of his grasp. 'Brad does love me! You spent one night with me; stop acting like you know me, because you _don't_, okay?'

'And in that one night, I already found out too much.'

'No you didn't, because nothing happened!'

'Yes it did; you can't deny it, Ashlee!'

'I can if I want to!' she said, her tears spilling over and falling down her face. She swung her bag over her shoulder and ran off.

'Ashlee…' Nate started, but she'd already gone.

* * *

As Nate walked through the hallways to his third class that day, he realised it was the lesson he'd been dreading. English. The lesson where he had to sit next to Ashlee.

The commotion had died down by now, but there were a few odd people who would stop and stare or giggle in groups at how "amazing it was to have him here."

Nate walked into English, noticing Ashlee wasn't there yet. He sat down and put his bag on the ground, taking out his stuff ready for the lesson. He sat there, tapping his fingers, until Ashlee walked in, her bag over one shoulder. She walked over and took her seat, not even sparing a glance at Nate.

She sat there, as if she'd not even noticed he existed. She put her bag on the ground and leant down, rummaging through it. As she did, though, her hand slipped and knocked Nate's book off the table. She mentally cursed herself and rolled her eyes but picked it up and put it on the desk. But as she pulled away, Nate grabbed her arm.

'Nate, this is stupid.'

'No, what's stupid is how you were really nice, and then suddenly you're blowing me off and ignoring me. Explain that.'

Ashlee looked away. '…I can't.'

'Why not?! I mean, it can't be that bad, like Brad's gonna kill you if you tell someone.'

'Yeah, yeah. He's not gonna kill me.' She said, trying to keep all emotion from playing in her voice.

Nate frowned. 'Look, Ashlee, friends trust each other. I need you to trust me.'

Ashlee raised her eyebrows, taken aback by the sudden friendliness. 'I do trust you, Nate. I haven't known you long though, I can't just suddenly drop Brad because of something you think you heard.'

'I didn't make it up, Ash!'

Ashlee smiled softly when he called her Ash. 'Look, let's just forget it, okay?'

'I can't forget it.' Nate said quietly. 'But I'll try.'

* * *

3 weeks later…

'_Nathan, why don't you ever answer this thing?!' _

Nate rolled his eyes, amused at Shane's message. 'What are you grinning at?' Ashlee said, queuing up behind him in the lunch line.

'Just 17 messages from Shane and Jason. I should really ring them back.'

'_After _lunch, Nate. You need to eat.'

'…Fine.' He grinned as she placed a baguette onto his tray. 'Thanks.'

'Pleasure.'

'Hey Ashlee!' Brad came jogging up behind her, wrapping his arms round her, kissing her neck.

'Hey baby.' She said, giggling.

Nate turned away, sucking his teeth bitterly. He grabbed a smoothie off the side and waited for the lunch lady to give him his meal.

'So…guess who just got kicked off the track team?' Brad said with mock excitement.

'Oh, babe. I'm sorry; try out next time.' Ashlee said, taking a smoothie off the side just as Nate had.

'Hm.'

Nate was given his food and he started to walk away. 'Hey Nate. Don't wait for us then.'

He turned back round to face her. 'Oh sorry.'

'That's cool.' Ashlee said, smiling. She glared suspiciously at the food that was just splattered onto her plate. 'Wonderful. Bolognese a la gross.'

Nate snorted with laughter and Brad joined in, not wanting to feel left out.

* * *

Ashlee stood at her house, waiting for Brad to call, saying something like _"Sorry, I can't make it tonight" _or maybe _"How about another night?"_

She had a feeling something was going to go wrong tonight. She just knew it. She brushed back the drapes and gasped as the headlights pulled into her drive. Her mom was out again with a different guy and Brad knew this.

She breathed deeply and opened the door. 'Hey babe –'

She was pushed against the wall by Brad, his tongue suddenly exploring her mouth. She couldn't push him off as his hands travelled to her jeans zipper and she was pushed up the stairs to her bedroom, down onto the bed itself. He finally took his mouth away from hers, but was lying on top of her and she wasn't strong enough to push him off.

'Brad, get off me.' She said, struggling.

He pulled at the hem of her shirt and the screams could be heard from downstairs. 'Brad, stop! No, Brad, don't! No, Brad!'

Too bad there was no-one to hear her.

**Yeah, I told you the rating might change. Anyway, please review! By the way, that's about as graphic it'll get when it comes to sex scenes with me. I really don't like stuff like that, but I have this great idea and it only works with this. **


	6. Fears

Ashlee breathed deeply when she woke up. Her eyes flitted around dangerously, scared of what she might find. She could feel where her mascara had run down with her tears and crusted onto her cheeks. Brad wasn't here anymore, but she knew last night hadn't been a dream.

'Oh God…' Ashlee's voice quivered, scaring her. '…Oh God, no.'

She turned round, getting mixed up in the covers of her bed. Sweating vigorously, she grabbed her phone. She scrolled down her contacts, past Brad, all the way to Nate. She pressed the call button, shaking forcefully.

'_Hello?' _

Ashlee opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She licked her lips, gulping harshly.

'_Hello? Ash, is that you? Ashlee? Who is this?' _

Ashlee slowly took the phone away from her ear and slid it shut. _'Ashlee? Is that you? Ash–?'_

His voice cut out and the silence buzzed around the room; Ashlee's hands were shaking as she clutched her vibrating phone in her fist. She looked at the screen with blurry eyes – _Nate – _and threw it across the room, watching in satisfaction as the tiny bits of phone smashed against the wall and onto the white carpet. She looked at her trembling hands, where small cuts had appeared on her palms from clutching the phone too tightly and the pressure cutting into her skin.

She buried her head into the stinging hands, feeling the very tiny amount of blood printing on her face. She slipped under the covers and cried into the sheets.

* * *

'Ashlee! Get up! You're gonna be late!'

Ashlee peered out from underneath her bed covers, making sure her mother wasn't in her room. She wrapped the covers round her and slipped off the bed, trailing to the bathroom.

She caught sight of herself in the mirror and wanted to jump a mile. She'd never been vain, but this was just unacceptable. She secured her bed sheets and grabbed her eye make-up remover, rubbing strongly at her skin, feeling the pain from the force make her face itch. When she finally pulled away, she saw the red marks streaked across her cheeks and sighed.

She started the shower and stepped in, letting the warm water sliver into the small cuts on her hands and her hair stick to her skin, making her feel uncomfortable.

What had Brad done to her? He'd turned her into a nervous wreck, a cascade of emotions that made her body shake with mixed feelings.

She washed her hair and stepped out, slipping on the floor and landing with a crash. She groaned, but grasped her towel and wrapped it around her.

'Ashlee? Are you alright? I heard something fall.' Her mother called up the stairs.

'I…' Ashlee whispered quietly.

'Ashlee? Ash, answer me!'

'I'm…fine.' She murmured, letting the tears fall down her face.

'Ashlee, I'm coming up!'

Ashlee suddenly snapped into action. 'No, Mom! I'm okay, I just slipped.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, yeah. I'm fine.'

'Oh, okay then. Come down for breakfast soon.'

She'd convinced her mother, but she hadn't convinced herself. She wasn't fine; she wasn't sure if she'd ever be.

* * *

Ashlee trailed the hallway, clutching her books tightly against her chest. She'd seen Brad that morning, but he'd held his finger softly to his lips in a threatening manner.

'Hey, Ash.' Ashlee jumped, turning round to Cali. 'Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you.'

Ashlee pushed some stray hair behind her ear. 'Y-Yeah, sorry. Just tired, that's all.'

'You look really pale. Maybe you should go to the nurse.' Cali said, resting the back of her hand against Ashlee's forehead. 'Ash, you're really hot. I'm taking you to the nurse.'

'No! No, I'm fine. Seriously, just leave it.' Ashlee snapped, pushing Cali away.

'Jeez, you don't have to get angry.' Cali said, hurt by her actions.

Ashlee rubbed her face with her hands, annoyed at herself. 'I-I'm sorry, Cal. Just had a rough night is all.'

Cali smiled. 'You don't have to say that twice.'

* * *

Nate turned away from his locker, counting on his fingers how many free periods he had. '1…2…done. Dang it.'

'Hey, Nate!' Nate turned round, seeing Cali walking swiftly towards him.

'Oh, hey Cali.'

'I was just wondering – do you know if anything is wrong with Ash at the moment?' Cali said, biting her lip.

Nate shut his locker and raised his head slightly. 'Like what?'

'Like…I dunno…with her mom, or with Kelly, or with Brad or something.' Nate inhaled deeply when he heard Brad's name.

'…Not really.' He said reluctantly. '…Except, last night, about 3 in the morning, I got a call from Ashlee's phone, but then it just went dead and then when I called her back, she didn't answer and then it went to her answer phone. It was really weird.'

Cali raised her eyebrows. 'Yeah, that is a bit strange for her. Anyway, if you see her, can you as her or something? She was really ill this morning when I saw her, but she refused to go to the nurse.'

'Well, thanks for mentioning it. I'll talk to her; see if she's still ill.'

'Thanks, Nate.' Nate smiled as Cali walked off, but it dropped as he saw Brad pull his Ashlee's arm into the same spot that he had when he tried to make her tell him the truth.

His eyes narrowed and he started to walk forward, hiding behind the wall, peering towards them. Brad's hand were grabbing the top of Ashlee's bare arms, making white pressure marks from his fingers.

'…tell anyone about last night…dies, got it?'

Nate tried to lean forward without falling. _Who dies if she tells?_

Brad kissed her cheek and Nate fake-retched. '…had fun, by the way…'

Nate hid behind the wall, shivering. Now that was freaky.

_1 month later…_

'You're putting on a bit of chunk, Reynolds.' Zoe said as she passed her.

'Shut it, Freeman. I'm not in the mood.' The truth was that Ashlee wasn't even that big; only Zoe was stick thin and Paris Hilton looked fat to her.

'You're never in the mood anymore, Ash. Are you alright? You've been all distant.' Harry said, draping an arm round her shoulders, ignoring the look he got from Brad. That was thing about Harry – he couldn't be bothered with what anyone else thought; he didn't have the time.

'Nah, Hazard. Just can't be bothered with people who's heads are bigger than Australia.'

Harry grinned and squeezed her shoulder. 'That's more like it.'

Zoe turned and faced her. 'What did you say?'

'You heard.' Ashlee said, leaning into Harry sweetly.

Nate spared a glance at Brad who looked very angry by this time. He looked back at Zoe who was glaring at Ashlee and Harry.

'You better watch it, Reynolds. I'll –'

'You'll what? Get your plastic surgeon to come at me with his little scalpel?' Ashlee said, causing Zoe's mouth to drop open.

'I do not have plastic surgery!'

'Really? Cause those boobs sure aren't yours.' Ashlee said, raising her eyebrows.

'You little bitch.' Zoe pushed her and Harry's arm got unhooked and she went crashing to the floor.

Ashlee inhaled sharply, placing a hand softly on her stomach. Harry offered his hand to her but she just kicked out and sent Zoe beside her. She grabbed Harry's hand and pulled herself up.

'Thanks Hazard.'

Nate uncomfortably shifted from one foot to the other. 'Guys, let's just go.'

'Yeah, Nate's right.' Kelly said, grabbing Ashlee's hand. 'Let's just go, Ash. She's not worth it.'

They all started to walk away when Zoe lashed out and grabbed her ankle, pulling her down, getting up. She looked down at Ashlee. Nate went to lean beside her, but everyone else really new better than to get in the way. Kelly tried to pull him back but he wouldn't have it.

Zoe kicked her several times in the stomach and Ashlee groaned, getting scared. Zoe cussed at her and stalked off. Before the others could get her, Nate heard Ashlee murmur something. He nearly screamed when he realised what she was saying. 'No, my baby. She hurt my baby.'

**Oh come on, people. 6 chapters, 783 hits, 105 visitors and only 5 reviews?! 4 are from my sister. That's sooo mean. I just wanna know what you think... :(**


	7. Emotions

'You sure you're alright, Ash? She hit you pretty hard.' Jake said, staring down at her on the small bed in the nurse's office.

'Y-yeah. I'll be fine.' Ashlee said. Her hands hadn't come off her stomach since it happened.

'Someone will need to stay with her. I have a 7th grader with a broken arm outside.' The nurse said, staring at the teens.

They all raised their hands, and Ashlee smiled softly. The nurse laughed slightly. 'Okay, I pick Nate. Partly because my daughter wants his autograph.'

The teens laughed and left, moaning that it was unfair. Nate sat down next to her, and signed the small piece of paper the nurse gave him.

He looked at Ashlee; her eyes were closed and she was shivering, still holding her stomach. 'You got a stomach ache, Ash?'

Ashlee opened one eye. 'Yeah, little bit.' The nurse left and Nate turned to face her a bit more.

'She hit you pretty hard.' Ashlee's eye flickered.

'Thank you, Captain Obvious.'

'Hard enough to bruise.' Ashlee's other eye opened and she sat up painfully.

'Where are you going with this, rock star?'

'I heard what you said, Ash. About the baby.'

Ashlee groaned and leant back into the bed. She turned her head sideways to look at him apologetically. 'I'm sorry I blew you off before, Nate.'

'I'm guessing this was Brad?' Nate said, raising his eyebrows.

'…' Ashlee sighed, staring at him. '…Yeah.'

'When did you find out?'

'About a week and a half ago.' Ashlee looked away, staring at the wall. 'Nate, I think she hurt it. What if she hurt it?'

'We'll go check with the nurse.' Nate tried to reassure her.

'No, I can't! She'll think I'm some sort of slut…I bet you do too…they all will…' Ashlee said, a tear rolling slowly down her face.

'Hey…' Nate said, rubbing it off. '…that's not true. The nurse would know better, your friends love you – they wouldn't think that…and me, well…I'd never think that about you.'

Ashlee smiled softly again. 'Thanks, Nate. I dunno what I'd do without you…'

'It's cool. Look, I'll go tell the nurse what happened; you don't have to be there. Okay?' Nate said, standing up.

Ashlee grabbed his dangling wrist, momentarily forgetting her baby. 'Nate.' Nate glanced down at her hand, but she kept it on there. 'Don't send Brad to jail. Please don't tell the nurse it was him – just say it was some random stranger. I couldn't live with myself.'

Nate's eyes widened. '…A-Ash…I don't think I can do that.'

'Please, Nate. I'm begging you. Promise you won't tell anyone.' Nate could see the fear playing across her eyes.

He bit his lip, breathing deeply. '…Okay…' he looked down and squeezed her hand. '…Okay…fine.' He was going to regret this – he knew it. But he couldn't let her down. '…I promise.'

He walked out and was out there for a good 5 minutes. Ashley rubbed her thumb over her stomach, breathing deeply. Would it have been better if he did tell the nurse it was Brad? What if she just blew a perfect chance of escaping from him? But then…what would happen to him? What would he do when he got out of the cooler?

Nate walked back in with the nurse behind him. He sat back down beside her. Ashlee studied his face, but emotion was vacant from his expression. Did he tell her anyway?

'Okay, sweetie. Nate told me what happened…' Ashlee couldn't swallow the lump in her throat. '…does anyone else know? Your parents? Your friends? Your boyfriend?' Ashlee flinched and Nate caught this, staring at her. The nurse, however, did not.

Ashlee shook her head. 'No…no-one knows…'

'I'm just going to check for the baby, okay?' The nurse said, glancing at Ashlee and then Nate.

'Okay…'

A few minutes later, the words Ashlee had been waiting for finally came.

'There's the heartbeat…your baby's going to be just fine.'

* * *

Ashlee stepped out of the nurse's room with Nate close behind her, closing the door quietly. Her eyes flitted around nervously, scanning the halls for Brad. Nate gently took her wrist and pulled her away. 'Do you wanna just go home?' he said softly.

'No, I can't…I have homework I have to give in.' she said, trying to get away.

She pulled away and started to walk off but a wave of dizziness ran over her and she fell – Nate was too late to catch her.

He knelt beside her. 'Ash, I really think you should go home.'

'N-no, I can't…'

'Yes. You can. Come on.' Nate took her hands and got up, pulling her with him. 'You can come back to my place if you want.'

'Err…' Ashlee stuttered on her words.

'I'll deal with Brad.'

Ashlee shook her head vigorously. 'No. No, no, no. You can't; he'll kill you.'

'What?' Nate said, as she held tighter onto his hand for comfort.

'I…' Ashlee looked around the empty halls nervously. '…can't…talk right now…'

She tried walking away again, but Nate kept a tight hold on her arm and pulled her back. 'You're coming back and that's that.'

'But I…'

'No buts. You're coming with me.' He took her hand properly and led her out of the building.

'Nate…'

'I'm not taking no for an answer.'

Ashlee let him drag her out, smiling at him. She didn't notice Brad watching from a window, glaring down at the couple holding hands.

**Ahh, it made me so happy to get reviews (: I really like getting them - they tell me you guys haven't lost interest. So, please review this chapter - you don't want to make me sad again, do you? :( Anyhoo, there will be some Shane and Jason and Mitchie next chapter - don't worry; I haven't forgotten about them. **


	8. Promises

'Do you want a drink?' Nate said, walking into his hotel suite.

'Er…yes please.' Ashlee said politely, fingering the edge of the couch.

'Ash, sit down.' Nate laughed lightly, walking into the kitchen.

Ashlee sat down on the edge of his couch, looking around the suite uncomfortably. _What do I tell him if he asks? What should I tell him if he wonders what I meant about Brad killing him? _

'Cola alright?' Nate yelled from the kitchen.

'Yeah sure.' Ashlee said, not really listening.

Nate walked back into the room, holding one cup in one hand and one under his arm, holding his phone, texting.

'You're quite the multi-tasker, Nate.' Ashlee said, standing up and taking the glass that he was holding with his arm pressed against his body.

'Why, thank you, Miss Reynolds.' Nate said, placing the other glass on the table and carrying on his texting.

Ashlee giggled and took a sip of the glass she was holding. 'Who you texting?'

'Shane. I have 24 missed calls from him; I think I should call him back.' Nate said, laughing slightly.

'Be my guest. I'm happy just looking around.' Ashlee said, smiling.

Nate gave her a grateful smile, and walked into the bedroom, holding the phone to his ear.

'_Oh, now you call me.' _

'Very funny, Shane.'

'_Thank you.'_

'Anytime. Anyway, how are you?'

'_Scared. Jason had his Oreos stolen this morning and now he's running round interrogating everyone.' _

'Are you at camp?'

'_Yeah, Mitchie's mom wanted to stay on for the whole year so Mitchie's moved to a nearby school and comes here often. There's a load of other people who come here to learn dancing and stuff during their free time. We wanted to stay and teach them.' _

'Oh, cool…' Nate said, raising his eyebrows. 'Why would someone steal Oreos?'

'_Beats me. Anyway, how are you?' _

'Er…' Nate glanced towards his closed door. '…Fine.'

'_Alright, what's wrong?' _

'How do you know there's something wrong?'

'_I just do. What's wrong? Tell me.' _

'Ash…' Nate shook his head, even though he knew Shane couldn't see him. '…No! No, I can't. I promised.'

'…_Promised what?' _Shane asked warily.

'I said I wouldn't…' Nate was rapidly caving.

'_Nate.' _Shane spoke softly, but with a strict tone. _'You're scaring me.' _

Nate bit his lip. '…I dunno if I can tell…'

'_Please?' _

Nate sighed. 'Promise you won't tell anyone.'

'_It can't be that bad.' _

'Oh believe me; it is.'

'_Fine then; I won't tell.' _

'Okay…' Nate took a deep breath. 'Okay…know Ashlee? I told you about her; blonde hair; green eyes; great smile…'

'_Get to the point, President.' _**A.N. Thought I'd just add Nick's pet name in. **

'Well…she has this boyfriend –'

'_Is someone jealous?' _

'No!' Nate said a little too quickly. There was a scoff on the other line. 'Anyway…he sort of…hurts her…and recently he…' Nate bit his lip; should he tell him? '…he raped her…' he said quietly.

'_What?!' _

Nate flinched. 'Shane…'

'_Don't you _Shane _me. I can't believe this; I really hope you beat this guy's head in.' _

'Well…'

'_Did you tell him to push off? Did she break up with him?' _

'Not in so many words…'

'_Nate!' _

'Look, I promised that I wouldn't tell and I just did. So…just don't mention to Jase or Mitchie or anyone. And…there's one more thing.'

'_Oh God…' _There was a small gasp on the other end. _'…She's not pregnant, is she?' _

'…' Nate bit his lip so hard it started to bleed. '…Maybe.'

'_Oh God…' _Nate could almost see Shane run his fingers through his hair. _'What are you gonna do?' _

'I dunno – but Ash is here right now. I really should get back to her.'

'_Yeah. Okay, well see you in a few weeks.' _

'Yeah. Bye Shane.'

'_Bye Nate.' _Shane hung up.

Nate pressed the disconnect call on his phone and walked out, not looking into the room yet. He closed the door and looked at Ashlee, who was sitting turned away him. 'Hey Ash.'

She stayed quiet; her back didn't turn so she could look at him. 'Ash? Ashlee.'

He walked forward slowly, dropping his phone onto the couch. 'Ash, talk to me.'

'You lied.' She said quietly.

'What?'

She turned round to look at him; her eyes were filling with tears. 'You said you wouldn't tell anyone. And you did. You lied to me.'

'Look, Ash…' Nate sat beside her, but she got up. He looked up at her. '…I couldn't do it. I couldn't just let you get pregnant, have a baby and then just act as if everything's normal. I just couldn't do it.'

'You lied to me.' Ashlee said, grabbing his phone off the couch seat and shaking it at him, his breathing becoming harsh. 'You promised! You promised me you wouldn't tell anyone! You told Shane! You said to me that that you wouldn't!'

'Ash…' She threw his phone back down. Nate picked it up and stood. '…I didn't mean to…he was begging…I…I…just didn't…'

Ashlee walked to the door grabbing the handle and pulling it open. 'I trusted you!'

'Ashlee –'

'You know what?' she said, turning to face him, her voice suddenly much softer.

'What?' Nate said quietly, walking forward.

'Just…' Ashlee looked down and then looked back up at him. 'Just don't talk to me anymore.'

She ran out the room, slamming the door loudly behind her. Nate opened the door and caught her running down the hallway, wiping at her face.

'Ashlee!' Nate yelled. She glanced over her shoulder but kept running. 'Ashlee, come back! I'm sorry!'

He contemplated running after her but she had a 7 second head start and was in the track team at school. He ran back into the hotel room instead and looked out the window.

He saw her running outside and a car pulling up beside her. He frowned, pulling the drapes further so he could get a better look. He swallowed with different emotions as Brad got out the car and grabbed Ashlee's arms. He saw her look at him and try to turn and get away but one of Brad's friends cornered her. Two more got out the car and circled her.

Nate couldn't see her anymore but he knew something was wrong so he ran out the hotel. By the time he got there, the only there was the car.

_10 seconds earlier…_

'He's coming, he's coming.' Brad said, shoving a hand over Ashlee's mouth and pulling them all behind a wall.

Nate raced out the building and looked around, his phone clutched in one hand. Brad, still keeping a hand over his girlfriend's mouth, reached into Ashlee's pocket and brought out her phone, texting Nate.

'Did he shut the door of his hotel room?' Brad hissed threateningly at Ashlee. She was so scared then that she didn't care what she said. She nodded shakily. 'Perfect.'

_Glove Compartment _– Nate read on his cell.

Brad saw Nate look with confusion, but commonsense towards knowing who send the text, in the direction of the car and open the door, reaching into the glove compartment.

Brad signalled for his friends to take Ashlee up to Nate's room through the back and watched as Nate found the small note taped to the top of the compartment.

_We have your little friend. You'll have to come upstairs to save her. Don't disappoint. _

Nate looked up with fear and Brad smiled sinfully, following his friends through the back.

**Yeah, this is where the real drama begins. So, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Please keep arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. Oh, and press the pretty purple button to enjoy the next instalment. **

**Reviews make for happy authors; happy authors make good (well…sometimes) stories; good stories make for good reviews…and the cycle starts over. See what I'm getting at?**


	9. Wounds

Ashlee was thrown through the doorway and onto the floor. She grabbed the couch arm to steady herself and glared at Brad's friends. 'Guess you guys didn't really need to know whether the door was open or not.' She hissed acidly.

One of his cronies came forward and grabbed her chin. She made a face, glaring at him. 'No, I guess we didn't.' He threw her back down to the floor, her mouth hitting the couch as she went.

She spat out the blood in her mouth as Brad ran in. 'He's coming.'

Ashlee looked up. 'Nate?'

'Yeah; I lured him up here.' Brad said, peering around the door.

'You tricked him!' Ashlee said, getting up. 'You're gonna hurt him; don't you dare hurt him!'

Suddenly Nate ran in, catching sight of a fearful Ashlee. 'Let her go, Brad.' He said through gritted teeth.

'Empty your pockets.' Brad said, to both of them. Nate reached into his pockets first, pulling at the inside material as his cell fell onto the floor. Ashlee eyed it as she showed him her empty pockets.

'Now let her go.'

Ashlee didn't want to like Nate – he'd broken his promise to her. But as he tried to protect her against Brad, she couldn't help a soft smile creeping onto her face.

Nate looked at her and smiled back comfortingly, even the only thing he wanted to do was cry at how much he still knew she disliked him. Brad's eyes burned with anger and he reached forward, hitting Ashlee round the head in such a way that she fell to the floor. Nate knelt beside her, glaring up at Brad. 'Why do you do it?'

'What?' Brad hissed down at him.

'Why do you hurt her? She never did anything to you!' Nate said, standing up. As Brad drew his attention from her and to Nate, Ashlee reached out and grabbed Nate's cell phone.

She looked up at the smaller of the two. 'Nate, just leave it.' She said drowsily.

'No! You don't deserve this; he just does it for kicks!' He turned towards Brad. 'You know she's pregnant because of you!'

'Nate!' Ashlee said, trying to stand, slyly slipping the cell into her pocket. 'First you tell Shane, then _Brad_! Do _you _get kicks out of breaking your promises to me?!'

'He has to know, Ash! He'll never stop if he doesn't!' Nate fired back.

Brad stepped forward. 'You're…pregnant?' he asked slowly.

'I…'

'Or were you not gonna tell me? Is that it?' He yelled, suddenly grabbing her shoulders. 'Huh?!' he shook her slightly, digging his fingers in.

'Brad, stop it, please. It's yours, I promise.'

'Of course it's mine!' he said, pushing her into Nate.

_I will never let you fall_

_I'll stand up with you forever_

_I'll be there for you through it all_

_Even if saving you sends me to heaven_

She pushed herself away from him. 'Don't look at me like that.' She said when his eyes saddened. 'I can't believe you did that.' She looked at him accusingly.

'He had a right to know.' Nate said quietly.

'You bet I did.' Brad said, suddenly blowing his top. 'Come here, Ash.' She shook her head. 'No, come here, I'm not gonna hurt you.' He said, even though it was prudently obvious that was the only thing on his mind. She shook her head, backing away from him.

'Come here!' he yelled so loud the people downstairs probably heard him.

She timidly walked towards him, trembling. 'Look, Brad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen.' She said this as if it was all her fault. 'I'll get an abortion…' she offered lamely, even though everyone knew she'd never get an abortion.

'Damn right you will!' He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her to the ground.

Kicking her, he got two of his friends to hold the struggling Nate back. 'Get off her, Brad! She doesn't deserve this!' he yelled, pulling against their restraints.

She was starting to lose consciousness and she rolled over on to her back as he started to kick her stomach harder. 'You won't need an abortion after this!' he spat, kicking harder.

She whimpered and he stopped, grabbing her again by the shoulders and throwing her into a wall. He signalled and two of the friends picked her up and took her outside. The blood covering her face was hidden in the darkness of the night, her tears tracing through it. One of the people opened the trunk of the car and pushed her in – she didn't fight; she was in a daze.

When the door was slammed shut, she was brought back to reality and started weakly banging on the metal. 'Please don't hurt him…he doesn't deserve any of this…' the corners of her vision started to darken and she pulled out the phone, scrolling down the contacts.

**Who to ring? Shane and Jason, perhaps? Kelly? Jake? Hazard? The possibilities are endless...  
**

**Review?**


	10. Saviours

Harry Fitzgerald was a laid-back type of guy – happy-go-lucky, you could say. He didn't really care what anyone thought – he'd do anything just to get any attention, good or bad.

So when he answered the phone, the first thing he said was, 'Y'ello?'

'_Hazard?'_ The voice was slight and scared – like a little kid who'd been kicked too many times.

Harry frowned. 'Ashlee?'

'_Oh my God.'_ There was a sigh of relief on the other end. _'Hazard, oh God, you have to help me.' _

Harry sat upright in his desk chair. 'Ash, what's wrong? Is it Zoe?'

'_I wish.'_ There was coughing on her end and then, _'Nasty.'_

'What?'

'_Nothing. Look, Hazard, oh God…' _

'Ash, please tell me what's wrong.' Harry was starting to get scared by this time.

'_I…I…'_ Ashlee could be heard crying on the other end. _'…Brad…he…Hazard, he's hurting Nate.'_

'What do you mean?'

'_I can't tell you over the phone – but please, Hazard, just come to the St George Hotel and open the trunk of the six-seater out front. I was locked in there…they're hurting him, Hazard, just call Jake or something and get me out –'_ The phone cut out and Harry looked at the screen of his cell and saw _Call Ended_ he got scared.

But he knew what to do. So he rang Jake.

* * *

Ashlee leant against the cold metal of the trunk. 'Come on, Harry…' That was the first time she'd used his real name in a long time.

As if on cue, there was knocking on the other side. She lifted her head hopefully. 'Harry?'

'Ash, you in there?'

'Hazard…oh thank God…' Ashlee said, the slightest smile coming to her face. However, the pain shooting through her body and the thought of Nate quickly erased it.

There was some scuffling and then the door opened easily, the light from the hotel lamps making her squint. 'Hazard…Jake…' Ashlee crawled out and they both grabbed her arms.

'Ash, what happened?' Jake said, keeping a constant and firm grip on her arms. 'Why are you all bloody?'

'I…Brad…he…' Ashlee's eyes widened. 'Nate!'

'Nate? What's he got to do with this?' Jake's eyes burned with anger – he obviously thought Nate had hurt her.

'Nate…he…he tried to help me…they're hurting him…'

'Ashlee.' Harry said, turning the small girl towards him. 'Who are _they_?'

'Brad and his friends.' She looked away, ashamed.

'_Brad?_' Jake looked at her in disbelief. 'I know Brad's protective, but are you sure it was him?'

'No, I thought I'd just blame my beloved boyfriend in a sick and twisted way of breaking up with him.' Ashlee said sarcastically.

'Well, I dunno. He just doesn't seem the type of guy to do that.' Jake looked at Harry. 'Hazard? What do you think?'

'Actually, have you noticed how he never seems to help when Zoe hurts Ash? And how he just sits there and smiles?' He looked very sincere, which was a rarity when it came to Harry.

'So you think she's telling the truth?'

'Hello, still here.' Ashlee looked up at the window where Nate's room was. 'I need to get to him.'

'Ash…' Before either could blink, she ran inside the hotel and up the stairs, even though her whole body was hurting so much she thought she was going to faint.

She could faintly hear Jake and Harry running after her and yelling at her to stop. She slowed so that she could read the door number – she'd only been to his room once. She turned round when Harry got to her. 'Ash, you don't know what you're doing.'

'Yes I do, Hazard. I have to help him.' She kept walking as Jake came running up to them. 'Here it is – 228.' She took a hold of the handle and tried turning it, but it wouldn't budge. 'Oh God…' There was a groan from the other side, and her eyes widened. 'Nate…'

Harry bit his lip and breathed deeply. 'Here, let me.' He grabbed hold of the door handle and positioned himself. He gave a rough shove and the door gave way.

Ashlee ran in, touching Harry's arm as thanks. 'Ah, Ashlee…you brought friends.' Brad glanced down at Nate, and Ashlee's eyes followed his gaze.

'Oh my God…' she whispered, crashing to the floor beside him. 'Nate, wake up. Please. Oh God…' The tears cascaded down her cheeks in waterfalls as she looked up at Harry and Jake. 'Call an ambulance!' she yelled, holding Nate's head. He was unconscious, sporting two black eyes, blood everywhere, a stab wound in his lower abdomen and more that she couldn't even look at.

Jake ran off without a word, and Harry walked towards Brad. 'What the _fuck _did you _do _to him?'

Brad glanced at Ashlee, waiting for her to scold Harry for swearing. 'He stole my girl.'

Ashlee let out a sob – was this all her fault? She grabbed Nate's hand and kissed it, crying into the smeared blood. 'I'm so sorry, Nate…' she mumbled into the skin, kissing it again.

'Is that it? He stole your girl?'

'Nobody steals my girl.'

'Oh my _God_, that's low – even for you.' Harry said, stepping forward.

'Yeah, well –' Brad was cut off by Harry punching him round the face. He retaliated by punching him back. However, the cronies standing around just stood there – they'd been told that Nate had their money, not that he'd stolen Brad's girlfriend.

Harry overpowered Brad easily – he pinned him down and then signalled to them to help while he crawled over to Ashlee. 'Ash…is he breathing?'

She weakly nodded, keeping a tight grip on Nate's hand. Harry could see the tears falling down her face and wrapped an arm round her and hugged her. 'He's gonna be alright.'

'How do you know that?' she whispered, curling into him. 'He might die.'

'He's not gonna die, alright? He's gonna be just fine, and he's gonna wake up and tell you that he loves you as much as you love him.' Ashlee looked up at him, her vision blurring.

'What did you say?' She looked up at him, trying to keep her vision straight.

'You love him, he loves you. Neither of you know it. Simple.'

Ashlee smiled slightly. 'Yeah…' She glanced out the door and upon not seeing any sign of Jake or paramedics, she started to get up.

Bad move.

Her lack of control and balance made her fall and hit her head on the coffee table. Harry got up and ran over. 'Ash!' He turned her over and checked her pulse. As his cold fingers touched her neck, her eyes opened.

'Ow.'

'Oh jeez, I thought I was gonna have two unconscious teens on my hands.'

'I don't think you're far off that…' she mumbled, holding her head. Her vision was blackening at the edge and making her head spin.

Just at that time, Jake ran back with 4 paramedics in tow and 2 policemen. Ashlee glanced at Nate in the hopes that they would treat him before she blacked out, faintly managing to hear Harry's and Jake's yells of her name.

**:O Like, OMJ. XD **

**Please Review.**


	11. Hospitals

Everything was blurry – her head was spinning. She couldn't figure out what was going on, but there were people rushing around her and loud sirens. Her eyes opened slightly more and landed on the boy sitting next to her. At first, she knew who it was – Harry or Jake. So she slowly turned her head, forgetting the sharp pain that followed.

'Hey sweetie – I'm so glad you're awake.' A kind voice interrupted her thoughts and she swallowed painfully.

'W…what?' Her voice came out as a whisper, partly due to the mask on her face and the pain she was in.

'Just stay still, alright? Your boyfriend can hold your hand.' Ashlee nodded, not really taking it in.

A hand grasped hers and she flinched. She knew that touch anywhere. 'Get him out. Get him out now!' her voice started to become clearer.

'Sweetie, this is your boyfriend.' The kind voice turned puzzled.

Her other hand reached up and pulled the mask off. 'No, no it's not! Get him off me! Stay away from me!' She tried pulling away from him, but the grip was too tight and she could feel her fragile bones being crushed in the pressure.

'Sir, I think you should leave – you're distressing her.'

'But she's my girlfriend!'

'No, I'm not!' With one last pull, she felt pain shoot through her fingers as a loud crack rang out.

She could faintly see the paramedic rushing towards the door. 'Officer Gilbert – take this man to the police station to be questioned.' Her frantic voice alerted him, and he took a reluctant Brad off the ambulance and into a police car.

'Hun, let me put your mask back on. I need to check your hand.' The moment the mask was put back on and her hand was touched, she screamed, though it was muffled by the mask. 'Okay, okay…I think your finger might be broken, but we won't know until we get to the hospital.'

Ashlee nodded and took off her mask again. 'What…what about Nate? Where…is he? Is he…is he alright?' She was still shaking from the event that just happened – how could they have just let him in here?

The paramedic bit her lip. 'Um…Hun, he…'

Everything stopped. 'He's not…?'

'No, he's not dead.' She said quickly. 'But…he's not in good shape. They're just bringing him out to the ambulance now.'

'What, this ambulance?' Ashlee asked hopefully.

The paramedic nodded, rushing to the door again and opening them widely. The trolley was lifted on, and Ashlee gulped at the state of the boy next to her. 'Oh my God…'

The paramedic placed her mask back on her face. 'Miss Reynolds, you're going to be asleep in a few seconds, alright? When you wake up, you'll feel a bit better, okay?'

She nodded, feeling her eyelids become heavy. 'W-what about my…my baby?' she said drowsily.

As she blacked out once more, she heard the terrified voice of the paramedic once more. 'Your baby?!'

* * *

Jake slowly drove back to his house. He'd told Harry that he could go with Ashlee in the ambulance and he would go back to his house and phone the others. After they found out Brad had got in the ambulance with Ashlee, with absolutely no intention of caring for her, they knew it was time to tell the others what Brad was really like.

Turning round a corner, the memories flashed back.

_I watched as Ashlee was put onto a stretcher and carried down the stairs. I glanced over at Nate, but Harry was watching over him so I ran after them and helped them clear the mob of people in the lobby to make way for her. _

Driving down the narrow road, he failed in shaking the memories from his mind.

'_Major loss of blood – both teenagers unconscious. Contact surgery – male, age 15, multiple head injuries…female, age 15, multiple bodily injuries.'_

He wasn't exactly sure how he managed to drive past the red light.

'_She may not make it…' _

'_She has to. They both do.' _

_I couldn't make out the rest of it. Imagining a life without Nate was odd – we'd become actually quite close – but a life without Ashlee would be like loosing a limb. She'd become part of me the minute I'd asked her where she lived and she'd tipped her pink watering can over my head when we were five. _

There was a scream and Jake slammed on the brakes – he'd driven through the traffic lights and nearly run over a woman. He nodded an apology to the woman and kept driving, pulling over on the side of the road, his head in his hands.

_I'm in the business of misery,_

_Let's take it from the top…_

Jake picked up his phone from the dashboard and looked at it, peering at the picture of Kelly sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes on the screen.

He slid his phone up and put it to his ear.

'Hello?'

'_Hey Jake!' _Kelly was so bouncy and happy – he almost couldn't bear it that he had to tell her what had happened. _'Oh my God, did you hear about that fight at Nate's hotel?! I should ring him – to check whether he knows what happened. Apparently two people were life-threateningly injured. It was on the Breaking News –'_

'Kelly.' Jake interrupted. It was now or never.

'_Yeah?' _

'Nate was hurt.' Jake said, not really knowing whether to say it bluntly or not. Take a guess which one he picked.

'_Oh my God, in the fight?' _Suddenly Kelly sounded much more serious. _'Is he okay? Who was the other person?' _

'He's not good.' Jake's eyes flitted down. 'Kells…'

'_What is it?' _Kelly's voice sounded uncertain, as if she was dreading the answer.

'You know Ash went home after Zoe hurt her, yeah?'

'…_Yeah…' _

'She didn't go home – she went to Nate's hotel…'

There was a pause on the other end as Kelly took this information in. _'Did…did they get in a fight or something?' _

'Kelly, Brad hurt them.' Jake didn't answer her question.

'_Brad?' _

'Yeah. He beat them…real bad.'

There was a choking sob on Kelly's end. _'Are they…are they…?'_

'They're not dead, Kells. But, ring Ashlee's mom and brother, please?'

'_Um…yeah, yeah. I'll call the others. What hospital?' _

'The local one.' Jake's head dropped. 'Kells, are you okay?'

'Yeah.' There was a long pause. '…No, not really.' A small laugh. 'I'll be there as soon as possible. Thanks Jake.'

And the phone went dead.

* * *

Jake paced the waiting room – Harry sat near him, staring at the screen of his cell. 'Will you stop pacing? You're doing my head in, dude.'

Jake stopped and looked at him. 'What are we gonna do? Kells has known Ash since forever. What will we do if she…if she dies?'

'She's not gonna die.'

'How do you know?!' Jake burst out, angry that Harry still hadn't accepted the fact that the last time they saw Ashlee could have been the last time ever.

'I just do, alright?! She won't leave us!' Harry looked up and then looked back down.

'Excuse me? Are you friends of Ashlee Reynolds?' A doctor came up behind Jake. He turned round and Harry sat up straight in his plastic chair.

'Is she alright?'

'She's going to need surgery – her injuries on her abdomen are life-threatening.' The doctor glanced around. 'Where is her mother or father?'

'Her dad's in New Zealand. And her mom's not here yet.' Jake bit his lip.

The doctor sighed. 'Well, Miss Reynolds can't wait – she needs this surgery now, or she _will_ die.'

Jake glanced at Harry, who looked as if the truth had suddenly hit him that he might lose one of his best friends.

'We'll tell her when se get here.' Jake said.

The doctor nodded and glanced down the corridor. 'Excuse me; my colleagues are bringing her down right now.'

As the doctor turned, Jake touched his arm. The doctor looked back. 'Yes?'

'Is Nate alright?' Jake asked. He knew that if Ashlee survived and Nate didn't, she'd never forgive herself.

'Do you want the truth?'

'Pure truth – nothing else.'

'Then, no. I'm sorry. They took him into emergency surgery a little over a half hour ago.' The doctor – Jake had read his nametag as Dr Winters – turned round and grabbed a railing of the bed that had been wheeled down the corridor.

Jake bit his lip and then took a good look at the pale girl lying on the bed. Her injuries looked so much worse in the light.

'Ashlee!' Kelly came running up to them as Ashlee was wheeled into theatre.

Jake grabbed her round the waist as she ran past and she struggled in his hold. 'Let me go! I have to see her, Jake!'

'Kelly, you don't want to see her.' Jake said calmly, turning her towards him. 'Look at me. You don't want to see her like that.'

*

'We're losing him!'

'Low pulse…'

And then a continuous piercing beep echoed around the hospital's theatre.

**Does anyone actually know what Nate's surname is? Because I've checked EVERYWHERE and I can't find it. Am I being a moron or something?**

**Plus, reviews?? I love reviews. :D**


	12. Calls

**Okay, so basically, nobody knew what Nate's surname is, so I'm making it Walker. Does that work? :S I hope it does, because that's what his name is gonna from now on.**

**Nate Walker.**

**Yeah, I like it.**

Kelly sat next to Ashlee's bedside, not able to make eye contact with anyone. The tears still hadn't stopped – the cuff of her sleeve was soaking. She'd come out of surgery over an hour ago; Nate was still being worked on.

Jake and Harry sat on the other side of the bed and her mother and brother stood at the end of her bed. She hadn't seen Zach since the last time he babysat her and Ashlee in 8th grade. Apparently he and his mother had a giant argument about his dad leaving.

'I'm gonna go get a cola or something. Kelly, you coming?' Jake said, standing up.

'Uh…' Kelly glanced up and down. 'Yeah, sure.'

He, Harry and Kelly walked out to see the others in the waiting room, leaving Zach and his mother.

'So…Zachariah, how have you been?' Johanna said.

'Fine.' Zach looked away. 'Nobody calls me Zachariah anymore, Johanna.'

'And no child of mine calls me Johanna.' The 33-year-old brunette looked up from her stare at her youngest.

'If you think that Ash being hospitalised is going to reunite us as a family, you've got another thing coming.' Zach said, feeling his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket.

'You have to take some responsibility for our fighting, Zachariah.' Zach looked up from his texting state with an angry expression.

'You have no right talking to me about responsibility!' he said, pointing at her accusingly. 'You had me when you were 15! You had my little sister 3 years later! You had an affair with a colleague and then told Ashlee that it was her dad who cheated! And then you have the nerve to try and teach me about responsibility?!' When Johanna said nothing, he shook his head, almost laughing at how easily he'd made her speechless. 'You make me sick. I'm only in the same room as you because you couldn't find it in you to take an interest in her life.'

'They…' Johanna's voice was barely audible. 'They haven't proved it was Brad who did this.'

'And you really believe that it wasn't him? Get a clue, Johanna.' Zach said, resuming to his texting.

She looked up at him, a mixture of sadness, hate and anger in her eyes and voice. 'What about you? You haven't taken an interest in her since you left! Even before that, she was nothing to you – just some little girl who hung around you a lot!'

'And whose fault was that, huh?' Zach glared at her and walked out.

Johanna bit her lip, glancing at her daughter. 'Zach, come back!' She ran out of the room after him, catching up with him as he walked off. 'Zach, look…'

Neither had noticed Ashlee's finger twitched as her eyes fought to open.

* * *

'Move him to the room down the hall from Miss Reynolds. She'll probably want to see him when she wakes up.' Doctor Winters said, pointing to a vacant room.

He walked into Ashlee's room, to find the 15-year-old staring at the ceiling. He walked over and watched as her glassy eyes swivelled towards him. 'Miss Reynolds?'

Her eyes showed that of bemusement. Her fringe covering her large stitched up gash on her forehead stuck to her skin with sweat. Her whole body was shaking. And as her mouth moved to form "why", the doctor realised that there was no-one in here except her and himself.

'Your friends went to get food, I think. Your mother and brother went to talk.' He explained, knowing full well why the young teenager was scared that she was alone.

'Brother?' she looked confused, as if wondering why her brother would be here.

Her voice was hushed, so Dr Winters had to lean forward slightly to hear what she was saying.

She gave up on trying to figure out her brother's reason for being there, and forced her voice to ask the ultimate question. 'Where's Nate?' she whispered, hoping for the best.

'He's just come out of surgery – you can see him soon. First, is there anyone you would like to call? Or maybe I can get someone to come and see you?'

Ashlee searched her brain for anyone she really wanted to see right now, but they all came back to Nate. 'Can I call someone please?' she whispered.

'Of course – I'll go grab a wheelchair for you to go to the lobby in; the staff aren't keen on patients using cell phones in their rooms.'

As the doctor walked out, Ashlee suddenly called him back. 'Yes, Miss Reynolds?'

'What about…what about the baby?' Dr Winters looked down.

Ashlee's eyes started to tear up. 'Oh…'

'I'm sorry, Miss Reynolds.' He walked out and then back in with a wheelchair, helping the distraught 15-year-old into it slowly.

* * *

'Hey, Shane – Nate's calling!' Jason yelled through the shared cabin.

Shane froze. What if Nate wanted to talk about that abusive dude? What would Jason say?

He breathed deeply and walked into the bedroom. 'Answer it then.'

'Nate? Who? Where's Nate?' Shane frowned and took the phone.

'Who is this?'

'A-Ashlee.' The frightened voice said on the other end. 'Ashlee Reynolds.'

'Oh, Nate's crush?' Shane slapped a hand over his mouth. 'Sorry, forget I said anything.'

'It…it doesn't matter anyway.' The small voice was definitely upset – but Shane didn't want to ask what was wrong unless he got an answer he didn't want.

'Where's Nate?' Jason asked, pestering Shane to say it.

'Yeah, why have you got Nate's phone?'

'Nate is…' Ashlee's voice broke. 'Nate was hurt.'

'What?!' Shane practically yelled.

'I know you know about Brad, so I…I guess I'll skip that. But…he hurt us; he hurt Nate.'

After Shane explained to Jason, he put the phone on speaker and took a deep breath. 'Okay, first things first – are you and the baby alright?' Jason frowned at Shane.

There was a choked sob on the other end. 'No…not really. The baby…the baby's dead…' She broke off again. Shane and Jason both gasped. 'But…don't worry about that now; worry about Nate. You need to get down here quickly.'

'Is it bad?' Jason said, biting his lip.

'It's not…it's not good.' Ashlee started to cry again. 'Just get down here fast. I'll be waiting in Nate's room.'

And then the phone cut out.

**I'd like to thank my *ahem* "lovely" 2nd cousin for pestering me to write this chapter. So if you love it, _review _it. If you hate it, blame him.**


	13. Loves

**Okay, one review. :( But, I guess that's better than nothing. And it was so sweet (: Thank you, Jensen Jonas :D**

***cough* MEL. *cough* Yes, I am angry, Miss "I-Religiously-Review-Everything-HM-or-HSM-or-Camp Rock-related." **

Shane flung open the door of his car, Jason climbing in the passenger seat. Mitchie got in the backseat, nervous as to how Shane was going to drive in the near-breakdown mode he was in. He shoved the key in the slot and revved the engine, ready to pull off.

'Shane.' Mitchie started, knowing he was unable to drive.

'What?!' Shane snapped, looking towards her, not taking his hands off of the wheel.

'Shane, let my mom drive you.' Mitchie calmly told him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

'No!' he yelled, tearing his shoulder from her touch. She pulled her hand back, hurt by his actions. 'I…I have to get to him…I have to help him…'

'You're no help to anyone if you can't drive to him. I'll get my mom to drive us – we'll get there so much quicker than if you were to drive.' Mitchie said, reasoning with him.

'But…but I have…I have to…' Shane rested his head on the steering wheel, sobbing into the crook of his arms.

Jason stared at him, and rested a hand on his back, feeling him flinch. He rubbed small circles into his back, breathing deeply to refrain from breaking into cries himself. Mitchie opened the backdoor and got out, opening Shane's door and bending down to make him stare at her.

'Shane…let me go get my mom. Go sit in the truck, and wait there with Jason, alright?'

Shane weakly nodded and undid his seatbelt, stepping out and waiting for Jason to follow and wrap an arm round his shoulders. The pair walked towards Connie's truck and climbed in; the only sound between them was Shane's shaky breathing.

* * *

Ashlee didn't know how long she had been sitting next to Nate's bed – but seeing as she got a call from this girl named Mitchie saying that they'd set off an hour ago, she guessed she'd been here around an hour.

For her first few minutes in his room, she couldn't bear to look at his face. What Brad had done to him was excruciatingly painful to come to terms with, but to see the aftermath meant she was in a whole different world.

And then there was the baby. How could he have killed his own child? How could he have been so cold and heartless? Of course, she was pretty sure he had mental problems, but he knew what he was doing. The look on his face was enough to show that he knew how much damage he had caused.

She had touched Nate's hand in the next 15 minutes in his room, but she wasn't exactly sure when. Then after a few seconds, she took his hand and held it in hers. And then, the tears started to fall.

And they didn't stop, even when she heard the memorable voice of Shane Grey echoing outside.

'Where is he?! If you don't tell me in the next 5 seconds, I swear I'm going to personally–!'

'Shane!' There was a yell from a young girl, who Ashlee assumed was Mitchie. 'Calm down!'

There was some hushed whispers and then a knock at the door. Ashlee looked up, quietly whispering "come in."

Dr Winters opened the door slightly so that she could only see him. 'Shane and Jason are here to see Nate – if that's alright with you.' He said in a kind voice.

There were some angry mumblings outside and then another "Shane!"

'It's fine with me.' She murmured softly, nodding.

'Okay then.' Dr Winters came fully into the room and took hold of the wheelchair handles and starting to wheel her out; her hand got unhooked from Nate's in the process.

Shane practically flew across the room trying to get to Nate, not sparing a glance at Ashlee. Jason followed slowly, smiling at her ever so slightly.

Mitchie looked at Shane and Jason and realised they wanted to be alone with Nate – so she followed the doctor to Ashlee's room. After Ashlee was helped into the bed and the doctor checked her vitals and walked out, she quietly knocked on the door and opened it, smiling at Ashlee and closing the door quietly. 'Hey…Ashlee.'

'Hi…' Ashlee said uncertainly, not making eye contact.

'I'm…I'm Mitchie – Shane's girlfriend.' Mitchie said, sitting on one of the hard plastic chairs.

'Oh…I…I, um, I talked to you on the phone?' Ashlee said, more as a question than a statement. Her voice was quiet – choked with too many emotions.

'Yeah…yeah, that was me.' Mitchie said, nodding. 'I…I thought I'd come and see you before I saw Nate – Shane obviously wants some time with him and Jason.'

'Yeah.' Ashlee said, looking away. 'Shane…' She looked at Mitchie, who had a confused frown positioned on her face. '…he blames me. Doesn't he?'

'No!' Mitchie looked shocked. 'No, of course he doesn't!'

'But…' Ashlee trailed off, realising she was the one blaming herself more than anyone else.

'Um…' Mitchie looked at her. 'How are you holding up then? I mean, I heard about…about the, um, the baby…'

The tears which had only just started to cease started up once more in Ashlee's eyes. 'Oh…the baby. Kinda strange, you know? I…would've thought that I wouldn't be too sad; Brad…Brad's the father, so…' Ashlee looked towards Mitchie again. '…but I was just getting used to being a mommy, you know?'

'I can't relate.' Mitchie looked down. 'But…I have been in a car for over an hour and I'm _dying _for some coffee. You want some?'

'I'm not allowed.' Ashlee smiled. 'But you can go get some, if you want.'

'Okay, cool. Thanks.' Mitchie walked out the room.

Ashlee leaned back. 'Well, that was nice.' She said quietly – she wasn't sure whether she meant it or not.

* * *

Shane ran a hand through Nate's curls again. 'When's he going to wake up?' he asked Jason.

'I don't know, Shane. You've asked me this already. We've only been here a half hour.' Jason said, staring at the youngest member of the band.

'I know! That's what's so frustrating! We've only been here half an hour and it's _torture_!'

'Just be patient.'

'How can I be _patient_?! I let him go away to public school and _this _happens! And then he won't wake up and I'm going to be blaming myself until he does!'

'Shane, will you _please_ just stop blaming yourself for a change?! People _think_ you're a changed person, but in some ways it's _always_ going to be about _you_!' Jason pushed his chair back – the power made it topple over.

'Jason…' Shane started to get up.

'Save it! I know you're never going to change!' Jason walked out of the room, leaving Shane and Nate alone.

'If only you were here now – you'd be telling me to go after him. You'd be telling me to go and apologise.' Shane said, staring at Nate's cut up face.

'But you know what? You're not here – so I'm not going to apologise until I see him next. Until then, I'm going to see your little girlfriend.' Shane said, running one last hand through Nate's hair.

* * *

Mitchie walked back in to Ashlee's room. 'Hey.' She said quietly.

'Hi.' Ashlee said, turning towards her.

'They wouldn't let me have coffee in a patient's room. I would've come back sooner if they had.' Mitchie said, sitting on the end of Ashlee's bed. 'So, how are you?'

'Fine.' Ashlee smiled – but it was faked. Mitchie raised her eyebrows at her. 'Okay…I'm in pain. A lot of pain.'

'Should I get a doctor?' Mitchie said, starting to panic.

'No…' Ashlee grimaced. 'He said I'd be experiencing pain for a while. Emotionally and physically.'

'Oh right…' Mitchie said, calming down.

'How's Nate?' Ashlee asked, dreading the answer.

'I –'

'He's not good.' Shane appeared in the doorway. Both girls looked up at him. 'Mitch, can I have a moment with Ashlee, please?'

Mitchie nodded and got up, sparing one last reassuring glance at Ashlee. She walked out, and Shane grabbed her arm. 'Can you go sit with Nate for a while?'

'Sure.' Mitchie smiled and kissed his cheek, then walked down the hallway to Nate's room.

'So…Ashlee.' Shane said, sitting on the edge of her bed. She tensed, afraid of what he would do to her. 'I'm not that scary, am I?'

'N-no. Just a bit intimidating is all.' Ashlee said, licking her dry lips.

'Now, why would you have any reason to find me intimidating?' Shane leant forward.

'…I don't, I guess.' Ashlee leant backwards. 'I've, um…it's just that Brad was my boyfriend…so I guess I thought you'd blame me…'

'Should I blame you?' Shane jumped off the bed, making Ashlee cringe.

'…I blame me.' Ashlee said, looking down, the tears starting up much more considerably than last time.

Shane looked towards her, shoving his hands in his pockets. 'Well…you shouldn't.' Shane was one of those people where someone always had to be responsible; it killed him to say she shouldn't blame herself, even though he knew she shouldn't.

'Huh?' Ashlee said, wiping at her cheek with her slim fingers.

'I mean, sure, you should've maybe told someone about it sooner…but the point is that you didn't beat him up; you didn't send him to hospital –'

'Yes I did!'

'_Brad _did.' Shane said, looking straight at her.

'No – because if Nate had never met me, he wouldn't have got hurt.' Ashlee said, refusing to look at him.

Shane walked towards the door and opened it. 'If Nate had never met you, he wouldn't be in love.' He said, walking out and shutting the door quietly behind him.

**Ah…Nate's in luurvee. :D**

**Reviews? … Please? :(**


	14. Sleeps

**Can I just take this time to point out that I am the HAPPIEST PERSON ALIVE right now? Because, I've just – just being yesterday, actually, because I started writing then – found out that I'm going to the Jonas Brothers concert in London on June 15****th****!!!! I thought I was actually going to die of excitement in Latin – and believe me, that's a first. I am so happy – my friend thought I'd had too much Red Bull without her noticing. But anyway, because I just LOVE to write happy stories when I'm like this, I'm going to let you read this now. I'm not actually sure whether I'm being sarcastic…because this is a pre-story author's note…I haven't actually started writing anything yet…and I'll stop my rambling now…**

Shane took a deep breath. He stared at the back of his best friend's straight-ironed hair and stepped forward out from under the shelter of the hospital. 'Don't be a coward…c'mon, Shane, you can do this…'

He willed himself to step forward and slowly took another step, and another, and another. It was almost as if he was being pushed forward by something other than himself.

Or someone.

Shane had to turn round just to check that Nate wasn't standing there in ripped jeans and a t-shirt, pushing him forward in an attempt to make him apologise.

He wasn't, unfortunately.

Shane was only two steps away from tapping on Jason's shoulder, when there was a shout from the doors. 'Shane, Jason!' Shane scrunched his face up, and balled his fists. Why-oh-why did everything have to be so God damn _difficult_?!

Jason turned round from his sitting position on the bench and jumped at the sight of Shane standing there with his hand – now a fist – hovering just over his left shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at Shane, silently asking for an explanation.

Shane smiled sheepishly. 'Hello…' he trailed off. 'Wow…' Awkward.

'Shane, Jason!' Mitchie ran up to them. 'Why didn't you answer me?! There's something wrong with Ashlee; they said she burst her stitches or something. What happened to you? I thought you were with her!'

'I thought you were with Nate.' Shane countered, his hovering fist finally dropping to his side.

'I was – but let's face it, I _could_ stay with Nate – who, frankly, at the _moment_,' she emphasised before Shane could say anything, 'is better off than the girl who was rushed into emergency surgery. I don't think Nate would forgive any of us if we put him before her in her time of need.'

Shane was left speechless by his girlfriend's small tirade. 'Um…'

Jason cut in. 'Is she alright?'

'I don't know – they won't tell me anything. Her mother and brother are talking with the doctors – and I don't know where her friends are.'

'I think I saw them leave a half hour ago.' Jason replied, turning his head in the direction they'd gone.

'Oh ok, well…I'm not allowed to know anything until they finish the surgery.' Mitchie said, looking down. 'I'll leave you two alone.' She said, not bothering to be tactful.

She walked off, and Jason got up, starting to follow. 'Jason!' Shane yelled to get his attention.

Jason stopped in a silent way of asking him to carry on. 'Please listen to me.'

He said nothing, but Shane just kept going. He wasn't going to give up on this – not now. 'Jase, when I said I blamed myself, I didn't mean that…I didn't mean that no-one else should…' Jason turned round, raising his eyebrows. '…that came out wrong.'

'You think?'

'Okay, I'll start again. I didn't mean to be so self-centred; I just…I was so worried about Nate, and I didn't know how to react to Ashlee, and her baby, and…I…'

'Yes?'

'I wanted to say…'

Jason turned fully and walked forward towards him. 'I wanted to say…I was…sorry…'

The last word came out as a mumble, but Jason smiled anyway. 'That's a first.'

'Hey, it's–!' Shane cut himself off. 'Probably true.' He corrected, deflating.

'I didn't really think you were self-centred, you know. Not since Camp last year.' Jason informed his band mate. 'I was just angry that you were blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault.'

Shane smiled. 'Thanks.'

Jason returned it, and held his arms out. 'Give me some hugging.' He said, grinning stupidly.

Shane grinned back and hugged him. 'I seriously am sorry, Jase.'

'It's okay – let's go see Mitchie.' Jason pulled away and started walking in, Shane next to him.

'So, why do Chihuahuas have giant ears if they have tiny bodies? I'm sure the inventor knew it looked stupid!' Jason said, as they walked into the hospital.

Shane paused for a minute. 'Jason…nobody _invented _Chihuahuas. They were founded.' Jason looked blank. 'You know…like, natural selection, Darwin…none of this rings a bell to you?'

'Um…'

'Oh, forget it.' Shane laughed at his friend's lack of commonsense. 'So, you've never heard of…Mitchie?!'

'Of course I've heard of Mitchie – the girl with the voice. Hello, someone turn the lights on in there…!' Jason reached forward to knock on Shane's head for emphasis but his band mate batted his hands away and ran off down the hallway.

Upon reaching his girlfriend, Shane knelt in front of her. 'Mitch, what's wrong?'

'Ashlee…' she choked. '…Nate…'

'What?' Shane said, tipping her chin up to look at her. Her mascara – although waterproof – was not in the perfect condition he left it in. Her eyes were shining with tears, and he used his thumb to wipe the ones on her cheeks away. 'Mitchie, what's happened?'

'Ashlee…she's, she's in a coma…' Mitchie whispered, glancing towards Ashlee's mother, who also had no control over her emotions.

'Oh my God…' Shane blinked slowly, trying to make some sense of the world around him. 'How; why?'

'I…I think she lost too much…too much blood. The stitches had ripped open, and they…they didn't get to her…in time.' Mitchie explained; her head bowed and her hair fell over her face.

'Oh God…' Shane quickly lifted her chin up again. 'Mitchie…what about Nate? You said something about Nate. Tell me what it was.'

'Nate…he…' Shane's breathing was becoming ragged by this time. He felt like shaking the words out of her. Mitchie swallowed. 'He woke up.' She whispered, almost inaudible.

**Yeah, so I'm still really happy about the concert. If anyone lives in England, tell me if you're going too. :D Review?**

**Cassie xo**


	15. Cries

Everything stopped for Shane in that particular moment. 'He's…'

Mitchie managed a small smile for him, though knowing what Nate would ask Shane the minute he saw him, being cheerful wasn't exactly her forte. 'Just a few minutes ago.' She clarified for him.

'He's…awake?' Shane had been without his best friend for quite a long time, so coming back to him beaten to a pulp wasn't really great. Now, knowing he was going to talk to him was out of this world.

Jason knew Shane wasn't really registering this yet. 'Can we see him?'

'They're not letting anyone in at the moment. The doctor's going to let us see him in a few moments after they've run a few tests.'

'Oh, right.' Shane breathed a deep breath. 'I…um…'

'C'mon, let's sit down.' Jason led him to a seat in between him and Mitchie and wrapped an arm round his shoulders. Mitchie leant into him, but Shane didn't really register this until a few seconds later and relaxed so she could rest on his shoulder.

* * *

_Why is everything so dark? Why can't I see anything? I can hear Zach near me, talking complete nonsense. He's holding my hand, I think. I'm not sure though – all I can feel is a tingling in my hand. My hand could be getting sawed off and I still wouldn't know. _

_Where's Nate? Where is he? I want to see him again. I heard the doctors talking over me in that giant white room. They said something about "the boy down the corridor waking up" and that "girls all over the world would be crushed if he died". That would be Nate, right?_

_Why can't everything just be easy? There's all those girls who think their lives are "tragically boring" but in my case, my life's just tragic.

* * *

_

'Mr Grey? Nate will see you now.' Shane got up and was bolting down the corridor before the doctor had got past 'Nate.'

'Shane!' Jason ran after him, pushing past people to grab his friend's shoulders before he burst into the youngest band mate's room. 'Calm…down!'

'I…I need to see…I need to see him.' Shane said in between breaths. The tears were just starting to fall, though Jason had seen them coming for at least 4 hours now.

'I know, alright? We all do.' Jason sighed, regretting what he was about to say. 'I want to see him just as much as you do, but if you really want to see him now…and Mitchie needs comforting…I'll wait.'

'Jase…' Shane frowned.

'No. Go on, before I change my mind.' Jason smiled and walked back to see Mitchie.

Shane grabbed hold of the door handle, and waited there. He willed his hand to push down and open the door, but even holding the door handle like that was painful.

Eventually, the tension was too much and he let go. What if Nate didn't want to see him? What if he only wanted to see Ashlee? What if he blamed him? What if…he wasn't the same Nate as Shane had left him?

'C'mon, Shane, this is stupid.' He said to himself. Nate had once told him, "You'll never know unless you try", so that's what he did.

He grasped the door handle and pulled the door open. There, lying in the white bed, was a pale and fragile 16-year-old. He wasn't the one he'd seen leave for school on that warm Monday morning. Nate's eyes were barely open, but what he could see of them didn't look healthy. He had stitches across his left jaw bone, and as his head tipped up to meet Shane, the fever was clear in his glazed over eyes.

'Shane.' He whispered, his voice hoarse.

'Hey buddy.' Shane said back in the same quiet voice. 'How are you?'

'Oh…you know, I've had worse.' Nate managed a tiny laugh.

'No…you haven't.' Shane bit his lip. Nate bowed his head and silently agreed. Shane was still standing next to the open door, so he closed it and walked forward slowly. 'Are you alright, though?'

'I'm fine.' Nate said, in an unbelievable voice; the pain in it was almost unbearable for Shane to hear. 'How's Ash? And the baby?'

'The baby's…um…' Shane trailed off. He figured telling him about the baby first would be better than telling him about Ashlee first. 'The baby…didn't make it…' he mumbled.

Nate looked away for a second. 'Oh…' he cleared his throat. 'How's Ashlee taking it?'

'She…' Nate looked at him with big eyes. 'She's…'

'She's not…dead…is she…?' Nate whispered, the tears building up.

'No…' Shane bit his lip again. 'I…Nate, Ashlee's in a…coma.' The last word came out as a whisper.

Nate's tears spilled over and Shane came over quicker than lightning and knelt next to him. 'But…she hasn't been in it for long. Only a couple of minutes, if that. She might not even be in it for more than a couple of hours.'

Nate stayed quiet for a second. 'But, what…what if she doesn't…wake up?'

'Then we wait.'

'But what if she doesn't wake up at all?

* * *

_Zach's been talking to me for about a hour now. All he's talked about is how sorry he is for leaving me and how he wished he could come back and oh, did I mention I was the guy who stole your bucket and spade when you were 3? _

_It was sweet at first – and I guess it's still sweet now – but after a while, he was starting to tell me things I really didn't want to know. Like how he and his mates were gonna get drunk every night and talk about ways of trying to kill Brad in the most painful way possible. _

_Sometimes, I wished I was blind just to feel what it was like to live in darkness. Oh, can I just mention that I'm now I'm in it – I am so _not _loving it. _

**Please, please, please, please, please review?! :(**


	16. Dreams

**3 days later.**

Nate Walker had never been an impatient person. He'd never ever been someone who hated waiting. In fact, a lot of the time, waiting actually calmed his nerves. He didn't mind waiting for Birthdays, Christmas, Easter. He was so into waiting, actually, that he thought he'd never come across a time that he'd hate waiting for something.

Well, he'll be the first to tell you that he was wrong. So wrong. The most wrong anyone had ever been about something. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it didn't feel like it to Nate.

He was so tired of waiting. So tired. It was never-ending. He was waiting for Ashlee to wake up, for Shane and Jason to come visit him again, for the pain to stop, for this all to be over. He wasn't sure how long any of them were going to take, and that was what was so frustrating.

It didn't take long for something to be checked off his list, as Shane and Jason came in. Shane looked irritated; Jason was bubbly as usual, holding a bunch of pink balloons saying "Happy Homecoming!" on them.

Nate frowned. 'Um…who's coming home?' he said, his voice still slightly hoarse.

Jason opened his mouth, but Shane beat him to it, 'Nobody. Jason just thinks that you're coming home because the doctor said you'd improved.'

'Plus, they'd run out of "Get Well Soon" balloons,' Jason added in his chirpy voice.

'Why are they pink?' Nate asked, breathing out a laugh.

'They'd run out of blue and green balloons,' Shane said, shrugging.

'And purple balloons!' Jason pointed out. He looked round at the two confused faces looking at him. '…not that you needed to know that.'

'Anyway…' Shane said, rolling his eyes at Jason. '…we heard Ashlee's improving as well.'

'Really?' Nate said in a monotone. He didn't care if she was in a coma and improving; he just wanted her to wake up.

'Oh, come on, Nate. She's that much closer to waking up,' Shane said, moving the balloons so that he could stand closer to Nate.

'Yeah, that much closer,' Nate held up his index finger and thumb with little space in between them to emphasise "that".

'No, this much closer!' Jason held his arms out wide. 'That much,' he clarified.

Nate smiled and blinked slowly. 'Guys…can I tell you something?' Jason let his arms drop and Shane frowned.

'Yeah?' they asked together.

'I…' Nate had never said this before. 'I love you guys.'

Shane's mouth opened slightly and his face softened. Jason grinned. 'We love you too!'

'Yeah, we do,' Shane agreed. He smiled and leant forward and hugged Nate. 'Seriously, we do.'

Jason joined in. 'Group hug,' He sang, making them all grin.

* * *

_I was holding my baby. I was holding her. I was slowly rocking her back and forth to an old lullaby my dad used to sing to me when I was small. I was singing it like he used to. I was smiling down at her. _

_When suddenly my baby was gone. Snatched out of my arms like an old ragdoll. I look up to see Brad standing there with my baby in his arms. He walks away and I'm left standing there with my arms stretched out. I want to scream – why can't I scream?!_

_Suddenly everything changes and I'm standing in darkness. A hand reaches out of the shadows and, without thinking, I grasp it. _

'_I love you.' _

_The voice fades away as does the hand. I turn around, spin around; what's happening?!_

* * *

'She's having a seizure!'

'She's dying!'

'She needs CPR!'

'Defibrillator!'

Mitchie stood outside the window leading to Ashlee's room. She'd run out of tears – now all she needed was someone to hold her. She'd never been in a situation like this – she'd heard about them, she'd watched them on the television, but she'd never been so close to someone who was dying before. It was excruciatingly painful to watch.

'Mitchie,' she wrapped her arms around herself, she turned towards Shane. 'What's happening?!'

'She's dying,' she answered simply, turning back to the window.

'…What?' Shane came and stood beside her. 'No, she's not; she can't be.'

'They've been trying for 8 minutes now. They'll stop any minute,' Mitchie whispered.

'They can't stop. They have to keep trying. Nate will be crushed without her!' Shane vowed to himself that if they stopped, he wouldn't. He'd go in there and keep trying if he had to. At least he would know he'd tried.

However, there was no need. Shane lifted his head as he stared at the young girl's cut up face. Her eyes were slowly opening – or was it a trick of the light?

* * *

'How is she?' Nate asked eagerly as Shane came wandering into his room.

'She…er,' Shane couldn't find the words as his tears built up again.

Jason frowned. 'What's up?'

'She…I…'

'Shane!' Jason knocked his younger band mate out of the trance he was in.

Shane looked fearfully at Nate's face – it was filled with tension and angst. He sighed shakily and started his sentence, 'Ashlee…is awake.'

Nate's face lit up, and Shane almost walked out for fear of breaking his heart. 'But…she doesn't know what happened.'

'What?' Nate frowned, his eyes falling back into their original pained expression.

'She's lost her memory,' Shane said shakily, 'She has no idea who anyone is.'

**Bet you didn't THAT coming. Well, to tell the truth, neither did I. But I thought it would add an exciting twist. Oh and please read and review my new Camp Rock story too please – the trailer and the first chapter are up. :D**


	17. Memories

**I think this chapter is gonna be a bit cuter and sweeter than the others.**

'She's what?' Jason tried to absorb what Shane had just said.

'Shane, this is no time to be funny,' Nate whispered, his voice scratchy.

'I'm not joking,' Shane said quietly, 'The doctor said that she could gain her memory back at any random time, or she could recognise someone and trigger her memory.'

'Let me see her,' Nate said, trying to climb out of bed.

Shane stepped forward and Jason pushed him back onto the bed. 'No, let me go! I have to see her!'

'Nate, you're not allowed out of bed at the moment,' Jason said, holding him down.

'You better let me see her, or I'll do something I know I'll regret later on!' Nate yelled, pulling at his friend's restraints.

'Nathan, calm down!' Shane was not able to contain his anger, 'Nate, getting frustrated is not going to help anyone! Now just lie down and I'll take you to see her later, alright?'

'But…' Nate relaxed and Jason was able to push him down and pull the covers over him. Nate looked down and then his eyes flitted up again, 'Is anyone going back to the hotel today?'

'I think Mitchie was going to; I can go with her if you want,' Shane whispered, wondering why Nate was suddenly interested.

'Can you get me my guitar?' Nate said, staring his best friend straight in the eyes.

Shane frowned, 'What about your hand?' Jason glanced at Nate's bandaged arm.

'I can still play – plus, it's my friend; I need it.'

Shane laughed under his breath and winked at him, 'Sure thing, buddy.'

* * *

'Does Nate want something like a notebook to write songs in?' Mitchie pulled a small book out from underneath Nate's pillow, 'Something like this, maybe?'

Shane skidded over and snatched it out of his girlfriend's hands, '_Never_ touch that – Nate's never let _anyone _see it,' he paused. Mitchie grinned cheekily. '…which could mean we could have a really good chance at seeing what he's thinking.'

'Exactly,' Mitchie flicked through it, and stopped at one particular page. She sat on the bed, and Shane sat next to her, also staring at the page.

It read:

_For Ashlee Reynolds._

_Just Friends._

_There she goes again_

_The girl I'm in love with_

_It's cool we're just friends_

_We walk the halls at school_

_We know it's casual_

_It's cool we're just..._

_I don't wanna lead you on_

_No_

_The truth is I've grown fond_

_Yeah_

_Everyone knows it's meant to be_

_Falling in love, just you and me_

_'Till the end of time_

_'Till I'm on her mind_

_It'll happen_

_I've been making lots of plans_

_Like a picket fence and a rose garden_

_I'll just keep on dreaming_

_But it's cool because we're just friends_

_Small talk on IM_

_Just one word sentences_

_It's cool we're just friends_

_And if I had my way_

_We would talk and talk all day_

_Yeah_

_Everyone knows it's meant to be_

_Falling in love, just you and me_

_'Till the end of time_

_'Till I'm on her mind_

_It'll happen_

_I've been making lots of plans_

_Like a picket fence and a rose garden_

_I'll just keep on dreaming_

_But it's cool because we're just friends_

_Thinking about how_

_We're gonna say our vows_

_It's cool we're just friends_

_As she walks down the aisle_

_I see all my friends smile_

_Cause now we're more than friends_

_Everyone knows it's meant to be_

_Falling in love, just you and me_

_'Till the end of time_

_'Till I'm on her mind_

_It'll happen_

_We've been making lots of plans_

_Like a picket fence and a rose garden_

_I'll just keep on dreaming_

_Just keep on thinking_

_Of when we used to be just friends_

_La (x4)_

_La (x4)_

_La (x4)_

_When we used to be just friends_

_La (x4)_

_La (x4)_

_La (x4)_

_When we used to be just friends_

Shane bit his lip. Mitchie looked down, smiling slightly, 'That's adorable.'

Shane closed the book and stood up, 'We should get back to the hospital.'

Mitchie frowned but also stood, 'Don't you like it?'

Shane smiled at her, 'I love it – and I'm sure Ashlee will too.'

* * *

'Ash; there's a visitor for you here,' Johanna said, stroking her daughter's hair. Ashlee flinched at her mother's touch; after all, she had no idea who this woman was.

Shane came in, wheeling in a pale boy with curly brown hair and tired but sparkling brown eyes. He was holding an acoustic guitar in his lap, and small multicoloured notebook.

'You remember Shane, right? He was here when you woke up, sweetheart,' Johanna said. Zach cringed as his younger sister slapped her hands away.

'I know who he is; he told me when I woke up,' she whispered harshly, 'I don't know who you are, though – why are you being so motherly?! You're not my mother!'

'Yes I am!' Johanna's face started to crumble, and Zach got up from his leaning position against the wall.

He leant over his sister, 'Ash, listen to me,' she tried to rip her head away but it hurt her, 'Ashlee, when you woke up, your memory was messed up; this is your mother, I am your brother, and these are your friends.'

'No, they're not! I don't know who any of you are!'

Shane leant forward to Nate, 'Do you wanna go?'

'No, no. I have to do this,' Nate nodded, breathing deeply.

'Just get out! All of you, just _get out_!' Both Ashlee and her mother were crying; Zach was near to it; Shane looked uncomfortable; but Nate was determined to make her remember. He hadn't saved her this many times for it all to die down like this.

'Okay, well, we'll see you later, Ash,' Zach whispered as he walked out. Johanna followed.

'Not if I have anything to do about it!' she whispered back angrily. She lifted her head up painfully to see Shane and Nate there. 'What?!' she whispered harshly.

'Ashlee, this is my friend, Nate. He wants to say something to you,' Shane smiled at her and left – leaving the chair right next to the bed.

'Do I know you?' Ashlee meekly asked him – it was more a statement than a question; she knew she probably knew him.

'Yeah, yeah you do,' Nate smiled reassuringly.

There was something about his smile; something she remembered. Or did she?

'Why have you got your guitar?'

'I was gonna ask: can I sing something for you?' Although she didn't remember him, Nate still felt comfortable talking to her.

'Er…' Ashlee also still felt comfortable around him, 'yeah, sure.'

And as he sang "Just Friends" to her, she smiled. She smiled as if she'd never smiled before; she smiled as if she was ready to jump in a pool in December; she smiled as if dancing in the rain was her only ambition in life; she smiled as if she was in love.

'_I was bombarded by girls at the beginning of school…I guess I must have dropped my pens and stuff…' _

'_I'm your buddy, remember?'_

'_Hello Nate. How are you? Would you like a drink? Something to eat, maybe?'_

'_I'm telling you; if I died, she so wouldn't come back from her foreign country for my funeral.'_

'_You break up with me and your little friend…Nate…dies. Get it?'_

'_He tried to _rape_ you.'_

'_Look, Ashlee, friends trust each other. I need you to trust me.'_

'_Brad, get off me. Brad, stop! No, Brad, don't! No, Brad!'_

'_You tell anyone about last night, he dies, got it?'_

'_You'll what? Get your plastic surgeon to come at me with his little scalpel?'_

'_No, my baby. She hurt my baby.'_

'_I heard what you said, Ash. About the baby.'_

'_Please, Nate. I'm begging you. Promise you won't tell anyone.' '…Okay…okay…fine…I promise.'_

'_There's the heartbeat…your baby's going to be just fine.'_

'_You said you wouldn't tell anyone. And you did. You lied to me.'_

'_You know she's pregnant because of you!'_

'_Nate! First you tell Shane, then _Brad_! Do _you_ get kicks out of breaking your promises to me?!'_

'_You won't need an abortion after this!'_

'_Nate…he…he tried to help me…they're hurting him…'_

'_Oh my God…Nate, wake up. Please. Oh God…Call an ambulance!'_

'_You love him, he loves you. Neither of you know it. Simple.'_

'_What about…what about the baby?'_

'_Where is he?! If you don't tell me in the next 5 seconds, I swear I'm going to personally–!' 'Shane!' _

'…_but I was just getting used to being a mommy, you know?'_

'_Should I blame you?' '…I blame me.'_

'_If Nate had never met you, he wouldn't be in love.'_

Nate had stopped playing by the time she'd realised. She looked down, her eyes wide, her mouth open. 'Oh, my God…'

'Didn't you like it?' Nate whispered, biting his lip.

'N-no, I loved it…' Ashlee looked up at him, 'Nate; you're Nate.'

'Yeah…'

'And that was Shane…and my mother, she…my brother; why was my brother here?! And Zoe…a-and Kelly and Jake and Harry; where are they –?!'

'You denied them, so they went home…'

'And…Brad…he was my boyfriend. I…love him – _loved _him. He…he killed my baby – why would he _do _that?!' Tears started to pour down her cheeks.

Nate was filled with mixed emotions. She remembered – happiness. She remembered – sorrow. In some ways, it was good she'd remembered, but ten she knew about Brad and what happened…and her baby…

'The doctors said he may have had mental problems…' he laid his hand on top of hers.

'But…he killed…his own – his own child…how could he?!' Her hand was trembling underneath his.

'And you…' Ashlee stared at him, 'you broke your promise to me…' Nate looked down – he was about to take his hand away, but she caught it and held it, 'but Shane…' he looked up, confused, '…he told me tha-that you…loved me… you were in love…with…' Nate opened his mouth to respond, '…with me…'

**Slightly cuter I think…? Please Review! :D**


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